<p>Since the College requires up to Intermediate I to be taken...
What would be best to choose from a foreign language for physics major?
A note...I don't really care to take a foreign language. I don't particularly like language classes. Especially since I have slight speech impediment. But, even without that, I don't find them fun at all.
So...I would like an easier one to get by, HOWEVER, I don't mind a harder one if it's truly beneficial. I don't mind studying.
Here's what I can choose from...
-French
-German
-Arabic
-Russian
-Japanese
-Italian</p>
<p>If it's not on here then my school either doesn't have or I don't like the language.</p>
<p>I took Russian as a chem major and loved it. My school required three trimesters, but I took five and only quit because of schedule conflicts. Russian grammar is completely different from English grammar, though, so it helps if you really understand English grammar before you take Russian.</p>
<p>In your case you should choose the easiest language. Spanish is probably one of the easier ones. Since its not on your list, why do you dislike it?</p>
<p>Learning a language works best with immersion of course, but failing that, to truely be able to learn and appreciate another language, you have to be interested in a culture that uses that language. So, you can ask yourself this question: which of these language is tied to a culture that really fascinates you? Would you like to read Goethe in the original language? Dostoyevsky? Sartre? Eco?</p>
<p>From a history of science perspective, French, German and Russian would be the most “useful” languages to pick, but that doesn’t make the other choices less important or relevant.</p>
<p>Well, as an arab I would tell you to steer away from arabic, the grammar,writing and pronouncation are comepletly different and seeing that you don’t like language studies it will be a major hassle.
Now for useful languages I’d say french or german because AFAIK if you’re not working inside the US you would probably work with german or french speaking countries (I’m thinking CERN in Geneva for some reason but I know it’s not limited to that).
From personal point of view I’d say Russian, it’s just a language that has been fascinating me.</p>
<p>I would guess French or German (mostly because it’s possible that you could end up working countries that speak those languages). None will be essential; virtually all physics papers are written in or translated to English at this point.</p>
<p>If you go to Germany most people will be able to talk to you in English and they will understand your English. If you go to French, even if they can understand you, they will expect you to speak French :P</p>
<p>You guys do realize that the OP is probably never going to become remotely fluent in any of those languages. The OP already stated that he/she doesn’t really care for languages and doesn’t like the idea of taking language classes. </p>
<p>Yet for a language to ever be truly useful, you have to become fluent. If you only reach the level of awkward-fractional-proficiency (which is the level that most high-schoolers who take languages reach), the language is 99% useless to you.</p>
<p>Barring the chance that the OP manages to fall in love with a language, the most important factor for the OP, then, is finding the most “painless” language.</p>
<p>Ok…maybe I worded things badly. I don’t know. But, I do thank you all for inputs.
Some responses…</p>
<p>I don’t have any interest in Spanish. I’ve tried looking into it. The language doesn’t appeal to me. The languages I’ve listed, I do have some interest in / already know something about them. I have thought about having an interest factor. That’s why Spanish isn’t there. But it’s also why I can’t decide because none of the listed really shoot out at me, you know? They’re pretty equal in interest.</p>
<p>I don’t mind learning a language actually. It’s language classes that annoy me. They are never structured well. The teachers are usually …incompenent I guess I could put it. Perhaps I’ve just seen the bad. Plus, I don’t care for how language classes are evolving into (mostly) Rosetta Stone classes, replacing teacher interaction. If I wanted to Rosetta Stone, I could do that on my own time.</p>
<p>It doesn’t matter that almost all important papers are written in English. My school requires at least Intermediate 1 be taken. That’s 3 semesters. Or if Arabic then it’s 2 semesters because it’s structured as an Intensive course (6 hour classes).</p>
<p>About Arabic - marhaba! xD I’ve looked into it. I get the grammar and whatnot can be foreign. I think it would only get annoying when they stop writing in the “vowels” though.
I think I already stated it but if not I’ll say this - language difficulty doesn’t really matter IFF the language is useful. Since language is required I don’t mind studying. Basically, I’ll have to Plus, if I end up actually enjoying it I’ll take 1-2 class beyond required if I have free time.</p>
<p>I see a lot say German / French…
Hmm…maybe I should just go French. After all, if you don’t speak their language to them they are the rudest people of all. I’ve been to France, speaking English to Frenchmen doesn’t go over too well. I even tried requesting assistance from 3 military persons, because I knew they would know English, but they just ignored me and/or responded in French. 'Course I pestered them till 1 of them actually responded, in English xD …then another one of them chimed in too, in English. Afterwards, I was like…‘now was that so hard?’ (to myself of course). Probably one the more annoying experiences I’ve had…</p>
<p>It’s going to take more than 3-5 semesters to learn a language like Arabic. It will probably take you more than 4 years to be close to fluent, in fact.</p>
<p>While we’re talking about usefulness, Spanish is very useful because 1) There are many people in the US who speak Spanish and speak very poor English. 2) Spanish is the second largest language by # of native speakers (the top 5, in order, is Mandarin, Spanish, English, Hindi, and Arabic)</p>
<p>Furthermore, I would like to stress that you cannot learn any language to fluency (not even a language like German) unless you are committed to 1) studying abroad for at least 1 semester (in college, or over several summers) and 2) Continue to practice the language on a regular basis (because you will forget if you don’t use it). This is why I originally stated that the usefulness of a language is not relevant unless you are willing to make that commitment.</p>
<p>I’m not trying to be too harsh. I just don’t want you to be wasting your time. I took Spanish for 6 years in school (2 yrs middle school, 4 years high school), got a 5 on AP Language, and took AP Lit as well. I’m not close to fluent - I never studied abroad. I’m maybe slightly proficient - but that is really of no use to me, since almost any Hispanic person in the US will speak better English than I speak Spanish. Today I regret taking a language for which I did not have the commitment to see through to the end.</p>
<p>I still have to take 3 semesters of language. :/</p>
<p>I said I don’t mind studying…
If I end up liking the language (as a class) I’ll consider continuing it beyond the 3 semesters. Maybe even study abroad.</p>
<p>I understand Spanish can be useful. However, just as you said you didn’t have the commitment to continue, I know I won’t because I’ve looked into the language. It didn’t really appeal to me as something I want to continue.</p>
<p>If you want to do HEP experiment, you’ll probably spend some time at CERN. Even though the language which people work in is English, to get by, you’re going to need to pick up some French. I’ve also realised that a lot of great physics institutes are located in German speaking countries, so I feel like I need to learn some German… and on top of that, China is an emerging research power, so it’d be useful to learn Chinese.</p>
Plus, if I end up actually enjoying it I’ll take 1-2 class beyond required if I have free time.</p>