<p>I just got accepted into JHU 2018 and I am very excited about going. In addition to majoring in IS, I thought of pairing my major with another major, or at the very least a minor, in a another language. I love learning new languages and they greatly interest me. I am currently fluent in Chinese and English, and proficient in Spanish. I will not pursue any of these three at a higher intensive level in school and would like to try something new.</p>
<p>I would love to learn Farsi or Turkish but unfortunately, they are not offered at JHU. I'm also very drawn to Russian, it's probably the sexisest language ever. To speak it confidently would be a huge personal fulfillment of mine. I must admit that I am intimidated by the apparent difficulty of it. From the casing, the the nine types of verb conjugations, and the inexplicable clusters of consonants that are seemingly impossible to pronounce, it seems like Russian can be a huge headache for even the most skilled linguist. The other option would be Japanese, which would definitely be no easier. I am already familiar with the hirigana and katana alphabet and also knowing Chinese would definitely aid in the learning process of Japanese.</p>
<p>I am aware that taking a language for four years in college is not merely enough to make one proficient in the language but I am willing to put in time and effort.</p>
<p>Any thoughts or input would be much appreciated! :D</p>
<p>You’ll learn best if you have a personal connection to a country that speaks the language. A boy/girlfriend, family, friends, the literature, film, tv, travel, music etc. </p>
<p>Check to see if you might be able to cross enroll/transfer credits with another college in town to facilitate those options. </p>
<p>Otherwise, consider which language you’d be happier exposing yourself to regularly for learning. Their news, tv, comics, kids books, food, local native speakers, opportunities to travel there, pen pals. It’s a long 4 year slog ahead. Make it one you’ll enjoy more.</p>
<p>But a language being chosen purely for financial gain can be extremely hard to motivate yourself through unless you’re solely driven by money.</p>
<p>Arabic comes in a variety of versions so you would need to look into which version is offered and if that matches your interests.</p>
<p>Russian is cool. Grammatically, it’s supposed to be harder than English but some people enjoy that so it’s not necessarily a bad thing. </p>
<p>You’d certainly find learning the characters in Japanese much easier if you can write Chinese, particularly simplified rather than traditional. </p>
<p>See if the college offers study abroad semesters or years in any languages you’re interested in. Gaining fluency is what will help you with employment. Fluent French will always do you more good than really bad Arabic.</p>
<p>Thank you for the replies ocnative and highlandpoppy.</p>
<p>From my understanding, college level language classes move more rapidly and are more intense than HS ones. Because of this and the fact that one must balance other classes, would it be too much to say, take two languages at once? Especially if the two languages are so different from each other like Russian and Japanese.</p>
<p>On a side note, I would definitely like to complement whatever language course I will learn with a study abroad experience. Russia is beautiful, mystical place but I must admit that I am concerned about the safety there. Being an East Asian myself, I would be more prone to being discriminated and targeted there, and I have read many horror stories from travelers and students of Asian descent there.</p>
<p>Just because you are learning a language to enhance marketability for future career prospects doesn’t mean you are driven by money. It’s as good a motivator as any.</p>
<p>I think you should learn a language that: a) interests you b) you are going to use (or at least you are going to try to use) after your degree c) you think will add to your “value” (e.g: when you’re looking for a job, if you look into a company that works with many clients from a certain country, the company will appreciate your ability to speak this language because it makes you unique and “valuable”). </p>