<p>I know it is really just based on what I want to do...but I wanted some guidance :)</p>
<p>Prospective Major: Human Biology (Planned Area of Concentration: International Health Policy)
[Possibly Med School after]</p>
<p>I enjoy spanish and I am good at it (by my standards, I guess). I got a 5 on AP Spanish test, so I think I would place into Spanish 11, 12, or 13.
If I took Spanish, I would finish the 11-13 series, no matter where I was placed (with the IR Spanish track). It would be somewhat close to fluency. In terms of usefulness, I guess Spanish is used more but its not really anything special anymore since so many people speak Spanish.</p>
<p>If I took Chinese, I would just take ChinLang 1, 2, and 3. I would love to learn Chinese and I think it will useful in the future in the field international health, but I don't know if 1 year is enough. I know it would be no where close to fluency. </p>
<p>Technically, I don't have to take a language at all, but I would like to. I looked at some courses though, and between wanting to study abroad for a term and needing to take premed reqs, I can't really take more than a year. Does anyone have experience with Stanford Spanish or Chinese? I'd love to hear your opinions of the courses (i've read CourseRank reviews already). Any opinions on Spanish or Chinese?</p>
<p>You obviously know that what you take is totally up to you, but if you’re just fishing for opinions then I think that you should take Chinese. I have heard from some friends in Chinese that it can be difficult and time consuming yet rewarding series (no personal experience in this myself though). Since you got a 5 on the Spanish AP you’re obviously pretty good at Spanish. You have a good foundation in it and living in the US (i’m assuming you do), Spanish is everywhere. Your Spanish skills now are probably enough to get by fine in Spanish speaking communities in the US and around the world and if you do end up in a Spanish speaking country you’ll become fluent in no time b/c of your good foundation. Additionally, you can always pick up Rosetta Stone or some similar program if you really want to strengthen you Spanish skills.
College, then, is the time to try new things and it offers you the opportunity to study such an amazing range of things in a manner you may never have the chance at again in your life. If after college you want to learn Chinese, having never taken it, it will be (in my opinion) more of a hassle than it would be to become fluent in Spanish. And also, even if you know you won’t be fluent in Chinese after a year of it, you will still have a foundation in it that you can build on if needed later in life if you take it in college. This is, in my opinion, more appealing than having to learn it from scratch after your structured college years. I think you should make the most of your college years by doing things outside of your comfort zone - do something new and gain a fresh perspective and study up on Spanish later if you need to. If you do decide to take Spanish though, most languages at Stanford are time consuming and intense. Spanish is probably among the easiest of them though.</p>
<p>Also keep in mind that where you want to study abroad and whether it has a language requirement may have an effect on your decision.</p>
<p>I agree with earthwise. You have a great foundation in Spanish. As long as you make a point to read and speak Spanish on a regular basis, it’s very easy to maintain your Spanish level and even improve it without further classroom experience. Chinese is a language that would be difficult to learn outside of college. Honestly, considering yo uhave such a firm basis in Spanish, you really have the opportunity to get a good jump into two languages. I say take advantage of that.</p>
<p>I disagree with earthwise and applicannot,
First, as a premed, you will have a pretty full plate. Spanish classes at Stanford are fun and easy and known to give a lot of grades in the 3.7-4.3 range and who doesn’t love a GPA boosting A+. Chinese on the other hand, is famous for being brutal. While other language professors really value effort and are blatantly guilty of grade inflation, Chinese professors do not hesitate to give C’s, D’s, and even F’s, regardless of whether or not you’re working your ass off. So unless you’re truly masochistic, that alone should be reason to prefer Spanish.
Second, though you most certainly do have a solid base in Spanish (you’d probably be in 12 or 13), I think it’s far less valuable to say that you’re proficient, or conversational in a language than fluent. Perfecting your Spanish will be valuable.
Third, related to the previous point, how functional you are in a language matters. If you go with Chinese, there are five years of just language classes (compared to two in Spanish and many other languages, three in arabic, and four in Japanese). This basically just indicates that Chinese is an absurdly difficult language to learn. Even if you take it for all four years of your undergrad career, you won’t even be to the proficient level that is usually indicated by finishing the language classes.</p>
<p>If you’re tired of Spanish, consider a different but practical language like Arabic, Portuguese, or French. </p>
<p>(Basis for all this: I’ve taken a lot of Stanford Spanish and Portuguese and really enjoyed it, and my best friend is struggling through a Chinese minor)</p>
<p>NJDS, I won’t try to talk you out of Chinese if you want to give it a try (since becoming exposed to an additional language can be a good thing in itself), but I’ll also mention that with your current proficiency in Spanish, you could soon be studying and discussing amazing literature written in Spanish (by Garcia-Marquez, Cervantes, Borges, etc.). It’s at that level that real understanding and fluency develop, IMHO.</p>
<p>I cannot tell you either way, but I can tell how hard it is to master this language. My daughter has been taken Chinese since 6th grade daily at middle school and high school ( she is a rising senior). She even got 7 on IB HL Chinese, but her Chinese is at 3~4th grade level at most in reading/writing. Lot of times I wonder how her non-Chinese classmates doing at this class. It could be very difficult at times.</p>
<p>thanks for the opinions
i’d really like to take chinese, but i don’t know if I will be able to handle it with Chem, OChem, Multivar Calc, and IHUM/PWR</p>
<p>i think i would like to have a class that is a little easier</p>
<p>With that schedule, you may want to consider taking your language credit/no credit instead of for a letter grade so you don’t have to worry about it as much (unless you want to use it as a gpa booster or something).</p>
<p>I don’t know if this helps at all, but during admit weekend I had dinner with a group of sophomores (one was my room host), and we were talking about the language programs.</p>
<p>Supposedly, all of them are great but Spanish. They told me that the Spanish department was very strict and unaccommodating (couldn’t skip levels, among many other things which i can’t recall at the moment).</p>
<p>I don’t know if this is true, but all of them pretty much said the same thing…so…take what you want :P</p>
<p>for now, i thought i would just take other interesting classes in the polisci, publpol, ethicsoc, econ departments
so im just gona use my AP credit and not take a language
i’d love to take a language, but i think i like the other classes better</p>
<p>I’ll add that there are other languages (maybe someone else mentioned this but I didn’t read through everything). German would be great. With German and Spanish (and English), you’d have a solid foundation if you ever decided to travel in Europe. </p>
<p>
My thoughts exactly. Although if you want to do a study abroad in a Spanish speaking country, you have to take at least one class before doing so. At least that’s what they told me when I asked them. I don’t know how frequently the study abroad things change though (currently there are no English programs in Spanish countries, but this may change?)</p>
