<p>I took french up until grade 11 but really don't like it and had a lot of trouble with it.. i've always wanted to take hebrew b/c my whole extended family speaks it and i'm always brutally out of the loop. I was just wondering if it's a really bad idea/difficult to start a completely new language. does everyone place out or stick to what they did in high school?? also, if i take hebrew is it a huge loss too miss out on all the european language study abroad programs or are other FSP's just as fun?? ya ED means i've had WAY too much time to think about this!!</p>
<p>I several friends who started new languages here their freshman year, and they're doing fine. First year chinese students even are able to go to china the summer after freshman year. You should be fine.</p>
<p>I took Arabic I last year at our local university (after taking AP French the year before), and it wasn't that bad starting something completely new. I forgot a lot of French just by not speaking it, but the non-Roman alphabet languages are so much more fun and challenging to learn. I'd definitely take Hebrew -- I loved taking Arabic (I'm going to take Arabic I again since Dartmouth's language program is much more speaking-intensive whereas my class was writing-intensive), and I don't even have any particular reason for taking it. Now I'm just trying to figure out how I can fit Arabic and French into my schedule.</p>
<p>Sanskrit
All the cool kids do it.</p>
<p>My roommate is learning Chinese and will be going to China in the fall (he started last fall). Another girl on our floor who speaks Russian, French, and English is learning German (which I speak, but have not taken at Dartmouth), and I've been amazed at how quickly she's progressed! I guess there's certainly merit to the Rassias drill method the language departments use.</p>