Russian or Japanese?

<p>Also, another option I have is to continue on with Arabic… I would be in second year and could very easily minor (and as a plus it’s a mon-thurs class, not mon-fri ha) BUT I just hated the professor and felt like I learned nothing. But maybe I’d eventually kind of master it?</p>

<p>Well, if you don’t like the professor then don’t take it. Simple.</p>

<p>If you already took two languages, I think it’s better to continue them. You can’t really call yourself fluent from just one year of taking the language and taking a continuation can help that (especially if there are new professor’s for the other levels). I took Arabic my first year and I’m continuing it. My professor was a bit crazy but I’m not giving up on it and there’s still so much that I feel I haven’t learned yet. </p>

<p>As for learning either Japanese or Russian, I personally would say Russian just because I’m learning it this summer and so far it’s pretty fun. In your case though, I might recommend Japanese just because like you said it would be helpful for you in business, etc.</p>

<p>Japanese is pretty much a waste of time, though it impresses people for some reason.</p>

<p>^ Is it more of a waste of time than Russian…?</p>

<p>“Japanese is pretty much a waste of time, though it impresses people for some reason.”</p>

<p>How is it a waste of time? I was under the impression that if you take any laguage that your interested in it will be fun.</p>

<p>^ With that kind of logic, spending all day watching porn wouldn’t be considered a waste of time.</p>

<p>I went into Freshman year of college making the same decision and went with Russian. I think it has the potential to be useful in business. My class both semesters was also five days a week (compared to four for other languages, I’m not sure why that is) but just put up with it. It wasn’t that bad.</p>

<p>I think the fact that you’re also taking Chinese is what you really need to think about here. It might be a harder decision if Japanese or Russian would be the only foreign language you were pursuing, but to me, the fact that you are also taking Chinese makes it painfully obvious that knowing Japanese AND Chinese would make it very convenient for you in the business world. Chinese and Russian, not so much.</p>

<p>^ What does a combination of Chinese and Japanese have that a combination of Chinese and Russian doesn’t have, other than the fact that it’s Japanese instead of Russian?</p>

<p>You can learn a “useful” language (such as Spanish), not be interested in it, and end up not actually learning the language. Now that’s a waste of time. Learn a language that you’re actually interested in, you’ll find a way to make it worth your time.</p>

<p>Neither Japanese or Russian are useless. I know a guy from MIT who was able to get jobs just because he knew how to speak Japanese.</p>

<p>Don’t take Arabic again if you feel you didn’t learn anything, you’ll just be wasting your time. You’re right to try and find another language to learn.</p>

<p>Catsushi thats true.</p>

<p>Japanese is very practical. Most people don’t realize Japan is still the second largest economy in the world (by pure GDP, not PPP), and the US’s number one trading partner.</p>

<p>Japanese is also very fun, if incredibly challenging.</p>

<p>That said, in the OP’s case, I would recommend Russian. Teaching is almost certainly more important than anything else if you’re equally interested in both languages roughly equally.</p>

<p>Japanese, in my experience, is really not useful at all but is MUCH easier than most people think–kanji is balanced out by the relatively simple grammar, i.e., the lack of subject-dependent verb conjugation (outside of keigo, which is… keigo).</p>

<p>Japanese is good in my opinion.</p>