<p>I need an intelligent working parent's view on which language will be more useful for me to have in the future: Arabic or Mandarin Chinese.</p>
<p>The reason I ask, is because I have the opportunity to study one in depth at USC. I know speakers of both languages are sought after by employers and even our government after graduation, but which do you think would do me best? My major is International Relations and Global Business at USC.</p>
<p>If I study Chinese I can do a semester or year abroad in Bejing, Nanjin, or Taipei. If I study Arabic I can go to Egypt.</p>
<p>*I know you might say "Do which you like more" or something like that, but I really don't like one more than the other. Please give me your opinions on which you would choose and why. Thank you eternally!</p>
<p>I think Arabic (i am not a parent btw, just a college kid), but I think that arabic speakers is in big deamand due to the recent war on terror, with efforts highly concentrated in the middle east, which is populated by many arabic speakers.</p>
<p>Which culture is more interesting to you? Why do you want to study either? Are you intending to go abroad to live and work ultimately?</p>
<p>What books do you read in your free time...do you read about the Middle East or Asia? Where do your affinities lie in this regard? Have you traveled to either, what did you think?</p>
<p>Both languages are going to likely be of professional use later on...but if you are choosing one or the other you are better off approaching the issue globally- you are choosing more than a language to study- you are choosing the kinds of social and economic issues that are pertinent to the given region etc.. The issues are vastly different, so have a clear handle on this, and I think which language to choose will be a clearer question to answer.</p>
<p>i would pick chinese seeing how it could be more useful for in-state jobs (if you stay in california) too in addition to government and international jobs, whereas arabic would only be useful for govt and intl. seems to be slightly more versatile. </p>
<p>just curious, which chinese universities is USC's study abroad program affiliated with?</p>
<p>With Arabic, the written language (Modern Standard Arabic) is generally not spoken. In addition, you will find differences in the dialects used in various countries (say Jordan versus Tunisia). So, learning to speak Arabic requires learning multiple languages. It sounds like you would be learning the Egyptian dialect, at least initially. In terms of ease of learning, I have heard that Chinese is tonal (meaning those with a good ear, perhaps musical talent) seem to pick it up easily. Other than that, I don't know anything about Mandarin. In terms of job options, my skill set in spoken Arabic never came close to the fluency of the hundreds/thousands of kids who boast Arabic as their native language and who live in the U.S. or have come here to study. There are probably a lot of native Mandarin speakers as well. To match these skills, you would probably need to live for several years in the Middle East or China (unless you are unusually gifted in languages). Therefore, your other skills will be equally important to getting a job, with the language ability just one of many factors, in my opinion. Therefore, I thoroughly agree with the previous poster that you want to decide which language to study based on which culture you prefer and your other interests. Would you rather live/travel in the Middle East or China? In terms of second guessing demand, demands change. When I was making this decision in 1976, Russian was all the rage and I went with Arabic. Arabic appears to be in demand at the moment, but in five years it may very well be Chinese. You should be able to find employment in either.</p>
<p>China has a third of the world's population, a growing economy, and may be politically problematic from a U.S. perspective. </p>
<p>I've told my daughter that if she ever picks up another language, I'd suggest Mandarin. Don't see that happening in her schedule, but that would be my advice.</p>
<p>I could speculate about there being enough insitutional paranoia in certain parts of the government that at times & places they might want some native-American Arabic speakers/readers, which could make that option very solid from an employment perspective.</p>
<p>Chinese has as many dialects and difficulties as Arabic. Both require several years of in-country immersive language and work experience to attain true fluency--one semester is NOT going to do it. The programs in Cairo and Beijing are very very good. </p>
<p>Not sure about Arabic, but a tonal language like Mandarin is very difficult--particularily if you didn't hear a tonal language as a baby. Some say that if you heard tonal language as an infant, those sounds are wired in your brain. Many of the students in the Bejing program are Asian American.</p>
<p>Mandarin might have better business possiblities especially on the West Coast, while Arabic probably has better government job possiblities on the East Coast. Either will be a real asset to your IR degree--a true skill to go along with your knowledge.</p>
<p>This is an oversimplification, but Arabic is primarily useful for working in government/defense, whereas Chinese seems to have a lot of potential usefulness in business.</p>
<p>Just read a very good article in our local paper in the past two weeks talking about how classes in Chinese are booming in the U.S. The reason? The Chinese economy is also booming, and opening new opportunities for those fluent in Chinese. I would, therefore, say if you feel pretty even about the cultures but are interested in more general business careers --- go for the Chinese. Arabic will certainly be a sought after commodity in some governmental circles, so if you're interested in that type of career, Arabic is fine BUT let's face it, it is unlikely that an arabic economy is going to suddenly be as booming as the current Chinese economy is.</p>
<p>i think that if you want to study business, either language could be very useful; China has a rapidly growing economy, but the oil-producing nations in the middle east are also very important to american oil interests (ill refrain from making a joke about the war in iraq...)</p>
<p>anyway. sorry there are going to be opinions one way or the other here. im in sort of the same situation; i also want to study intl relations. my high school luckily offers chinese, so that made the choice for me, but i am going to try to take both in college.</p>
<p>im not sure that this would be possible for you, though, because i have already taken chinese for four years, so i feel like i can try another language... both are ranked as the most difficult languages to learn, so keep that in mind as well.</p>
<p>carpecollege, I envy your high school. All mine had was French and Spanish. I did both but focused mostly on Spanish and so I have 4 years experience of that and more (I live in California). So I am considering chinese as the second language to learn for myself at college and for a semester abroad and afterward.</p>
<p>I have a feeling that in 5 years, the market will be flooded with people looking for intelligence work who speak Arabic. It became the hot language after 9/11, so lots of people looking to go into this field are switching away from the traditional languages hoping that it will help them find a job. This is my completely unscientific opinion.</p>
<p>I definitely suggest chinese if you're going to work in business. It's useful when working under the government as well. Do you have any background on the Chinese language? It's QUITE difficult to write and even more difficult to speak it (fluently).</p>
<p>My mom lived in China for many years and speaks Mandarin fluently, so I'll offer my thoughts on Mandarin if you like. Mandarin does have difficult tonal variations, for example "ma" with different tones can mean 5 different words. But a fair number of other languages have the tone thing going on, too. Once you get that down (which, as some said, is not so bad if you have some musical experience) it's pretty easy going. Grammatically, in Mandarin, there's really nothing complicated. There's basically no past/future/subjunctive/perfect/you name it to worry about and conjugation is not a big deal either. Since verb tenses and conjugations are really what trip people up in languages, it could be a lot worse.</p>
<p>True, the characters are hard to master. But once you become literate, there's a whole world of possibility. China has hundreds of dialects, some more different than others, but only one written language. Everyone reads the same language and just pronounces and speaks it differently. In my unprofessional opinion, I think the ability to communicate (even if only through writing) with 1/3 of the world's population makes it worthwhile. Plus, it's extremely useful for governmental work and business.</p>
<p>"Mandarin does have difficult tonal variations, for example "ma" with different tones can mean 5 different words. But a fair number of other languages have the tone thing going on, too."</p>
<p>This is true, but it is extremely difficult to get it down. If you're learning as an adult, even years of training seems never satisfactory. However, if you're learning as an infant, that's a different story.</p>
<p>I agree w/ elphaba88 on the usefulness of writing Mandarin though. Once you know how to write in a prominent language such as Mandarin, you have much potential in both the political and business world.</p>
<p>Very important to consider the culture. I overlooked that fact when I took introductory Russian last year. The more I learned about the Russian culture, the less I liked studying Russian. Even though it was a great language to study and beautiful, I just couldn't put myself through the Russian media in Intermediate Russian so I dropped. There's just something about the visual arts that I don't like.... but I am grateful that I have the skills necessary to help out at my workforce/internship with my Russian proficiency.</p>
<p>On the other hand, I went to Israel and LOVED the culture there so I immediately picked up Hebrew. Haven't looked back since, especially that I now want to spend some time in Israel.</p>
<p>Definitely figure out which culture you like better- watch movies for sure since your professor will show them in class. If you don't like the movies (after 2-3 times), then don't go for that area.</p>
<p>there are lots of GREAT chinese movies. i think this is a burgeoning art form in the more relaxed social environment... im sure there are some good arabic movies as well, but given the instability in that area, im not sure how much development there is for movie producers.</p>