<p>I gave it a lot of thought and I don't like the Asian or Arabic cultures. They just don't appeal to me. So I will stay with Spanish and try German, a language and culture I love. But, thank you for all of your responses. I have learned to do what I really like.</p>
<p>I was discussing this thread with some folks over dinner tonight. For anyone other than the OP, who 1) has made a decision and 2) is of the male persuasion, it was pointed out that opportunities for female Arabic speakers are much more limited than for male speakers due to cultural reasons. TheMom knows of a husband-wife couple who met in college in an Arabic program...he always got tons of job offers, she never did...comparable skills.</p>
<p>Speaking of movies, I don't suppose there are any native Chinese here who can discuss the movie "Together"? I enjoyed it very much but I had a constant sensation that I was missing all sorts of cues about character, etc.</p>
<p>i was reading the latest US News issue (yea, US News magazine actually has issues besides its rankings issue!) and it was about the top 50 things you could do to improve your life in 2006. </p>
<p>one of them was to learn chinese.</p>
<p>I'm a student, but I hope no one minds. I was interested in this thread because I intend to pursue German as part of a double major or a minor in college. I've always had a small interest in Arabic, though. </p>
<p>TheDad, it's interesting that you say that. I know a girl from my high school who attended Emory on a 2/3 scholarship, studied for a semester at the American University in Cairo, and majored in International Relations with a minor in Arabic. She is now at Georgetown (on a scholarship) pursuing a major in Arabic and a law degree. She'll spend 2 years doing the Arabic major, 2 years doing the law school work. She's an Amnesty International type and has always wanted to be on the ground force to help the Arabs. She's also thinking about working in an international law firm with ties to Arabic states. My family has always wondered if Arab males, due to cultural reasons, would interact with an American female. We think her best bet would be governmental work or at least contracting out translation services. I'm just curious: what other career opportunities do you think would be open to an American woman fluent in Arabic? </p>
<p>Are there any other cultures that would be closed to foreign women? Would, say, Hebrew or Chinese work the same way--any predisposition against females?</p>
<p>Well, the OP has already made his decision, but the topic is interesting to me. My D likes languages. She is a native English speaker, is fluent in German, and takes Spanish at school (taught in German). Friends of ours who work for the government pointed out that the government will give scholarships for some people studying Arabic or Chinese, and they recommended she look at one of those. We came to the same conclusion TheDad mentions -- that Arabic probably wasn't an option due to gender. Also, D is musical, and I think that will help with Chinese. She has already had an introduction to Chinese -- she takes an after-school class, and enjoys it. She hopes to continue in college.</p>
<p>EuropeGirl, I think there are opportunities for a female Arabic speaker but that they will be a smaller fraction of the pie and thus probably less lucrative. Male chauvinism might be a problem with both Chinese and Israeli cultures but less so than most of the Arab world, I think. I've had substantial interactions with native Chinese couples and many of the women have high-status jobs, even or better than their husbands...just as one litmus indicator.</p>