<p>I just accepted to Tufts, ED (woooo!!) I know that Tufts has a very strict foreignlanguage requirement, but a student can place out certain semesters by taking a placement test. </p>
<p>In high school, I studied Spanish (currently in Spanish IV) and I don't love it. It's not because it's too hard, I just don't find it very interesting. I am thinking about studying Japanese or Mandarin at Tufts, but would like some idea of how difficult it would be to start from scratch. Any ideas?</p>
<p>I think the requirement at Tufts would involve you taking a certain number of semesters in Japanese or Mandarin rather than reach a certain level of proficiency. Each of these languages are challenging particularly in learning to read them. However, learning Mandarin may be a very good career move given the increasing role China is having in the world these days. In addition, Beijing may be one of the most interesting and cheapest places in the world to do a semester or year abroad. Many of the study abroad programs in China teach subject coursework in English but give intensive study in Mandarin. Check out thebeijingcenter.org as a representative study abroad program.
congrats on your acceptance to Tufts. It's a great school.</p>
<p>You may want to place out of the language requirement by taking the Spanish test. That way, if your schedule can't accommodate a language, you don't have to worry about taking one. But if your schedule permits, you can take a new language. </p>
<p>My D started a new language in college. She said that the pace in college is really, really fast. Plus, with Japanese and Chinese, you would have to learn a different alphabet. It would make it a challenge, but go for it.</p>
<p>Actually, the difficulty of Chinese is that its written language isn't even alphabetical. (You'll learn Pinyin, or another romanization system, but that's not what Chinese people generally use.) Becoming fully literate in Chinese requires you to learn thousands of characters.</p>
<p>Chinese also has "significant tonality," meaning that fluctuations in pitch are an integral part of the pronunciation of words, not just something you do to convey enphasis.</p>
<p>I started studying Chinese at the university level (and followed it up with study overseas), and can confirm that in addition to being an order of magnitude more difficult than anything else I've ever studied, it was also extremely rewarding. It's also played an important role through much of my career. China's importance in the world economy grows every year.</p>
<p>My son started a new language at Harvard. He studied Japanese. He said that the best part of the course was learning how to order and eat sushi properly with native speakers who knew what they were doing!! He hopes to travel to Japan this summer.</p>
<p>I'm studying Mandarin now, and although it is alot of work, it's also alot of fun :) </p>
<p>Learning characters is not that difficult - it's simple rote learning, pretty much. The tones take a while to get used to, but after a while they just become natural and you use them without even thinking about it. </p>
<p>Do Chinese!!</p>
<p>I did the same thing. 5 years of spanish in high school, taking madarin now and I really like it. I agree with Laylah-characters are not that hard, tones take a while to get used to, but the it's just a myth that Asian languages are really hard to learn. As Greybeard noted, however, you will have to learn thousands of characters to truly be fluent, if that's your goal. Studying in China will help you a lot too, if you choose to pursue that.</p>
<p>I'm taking up Arabic. I've been taking French and Spanish since middle school and I've become so sick of them. Arabic is a becoming a very important language in the world (well, at least as important as any Romance language). The alphabet is totally different, and Arabic grammar can get very hard, but I'm having so much fun with it. (Much more, I can guarantee, than I would be having with French.)</p>
<p>As-salaam alaikum!</p>
<p>I've known many people who successfully learned a language they began in college--motivation and enough pleasure in the task so that you keep at it--that's the key.</p>
<p>Both kids abandoned four years of hs Spanish and started over with a new language, one chose Italian, the other French. Both satisfied they started anew. Pick something you think you'll enjoy and try it! You can always change after a semester's exposure if it's not what you expected. That's what this time of your life is for.</p>
<p>in high school, i took 3 years german, 2 years spanish, 1 year japanese.. so basicially had no REAL language skills</p>
<p>i'm now in college, taking Japanese and really like it; at my school it's a 5 credit class each semester, but I'm definitely learning a lot and having class four times a week helps with practicing and a lot of oral communication in class. I am considering going to China this summer to study Mandarin, but even if I don't I will try to fit Chinese into my schedule by junior year... my major is IR with a focus on Asia, so it's important to me to know as much of these two languages as possible!</p>
<p>many people start new languages in college, so do what you want as long as it makes some sense major/career wise!</p>
<p>lg08, where are you in school? S2, a junior, is interested in studying Japanese.</p>
<p>I'm at American University in Washington, DC! If you want more info about the school or have questions, feel free to contact me! :)</p>
<p>I decided to give up on spanish IV next year as a senior in HS. The teachers really don't try to make anything interesting out of the subject. I plan to start Japanese in college. :)</p>