What language should I take next year?

Student Lounge College Life
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<p>Hey I'm going to be starting college next and will be majoring in history and i'm still haven't decided on what foreign language I should take. I will probably specialize in European history and narrowed my list down to Italian, Portuguese, French, Spanish, Russian, and German.</p>

<p>I took spanish in middle school and high school and winged it since I really didn't have any motivation to take it nor did I have anyone to speak it with at home. So I remember some of the vocab and grammar rules, but don't really know how they compare to the other languages. I know Italian and Portuguese are really similiar to Spanish and that German has grammar rules that are close to English.</p>

<p>Any suggestions?</p>

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<p>C’mon, if you like European history, you should have some idea of what language you like.</p>

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<p>West European languages and i’m asking because I dont want to end up signing up for a class and finding out I dont like it halfway through the year.</p>

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<p>If you’re thinking about grad school I’d suggest German and/or French.</p>

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<p>Well none of us are going to know know whether or not you’re going to like a class halfway through the year…</p>

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<p>latin??? lol (you might say not practical, but really is german that practical while living in the usa)</p>

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<p>Arabic. It will get you a job, unlike majoring in history.</p>

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<p>yea are you going to grad school after studying history…or?</p>

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<p>*If you’re thinking about grad school I’d suggest German and/or French. *</p>

<p>May I ask why those two languages are preferable for grad?</p>

<p>*Well none of us are going to know know whether or not you’re going to like a class halfway through the year… *</p>

<p>that’s why I want to get a little bit of info/anecdotes from people who are already in college before I start.</p>

<p>*latin??? lol (you might say not practical, but really is german that practical while living in the usa) *</p>

<p>I take latin now. I like it, but I want to learn a language that is spoken today.</p>

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<p>*Arabic. It will get you a job, unlike majoring in history. *</p>

<p>I dont know a lot about arabic. Do you take it?</p>

<p>And i’m looking into teaching right now.</p>

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<p>I don’t know if one is preferred over the other, but I know German is an easy language to learn. This coming from three years experience with the language.</p>

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<p>Knowing Arabic well will open up the possibility of working for various government agencies for what should be very obvious reasons. Think about it for a second. Also, everyone takes Spanish, French, and German.</p>

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<p>Knowing Arabic well will open up the possibility of working for various government agencies for what should be very obvious reasons.</p>

<p>I know that, but I meant do you have any experience with it?Could you tell me about what the language is like?</p>

<p>I don’t believe I have heard much Arabic, just a little Farsi.</p>

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<p>I don’t know if one is preferred over the other, but I know German is an easy language to learn. This coming from three years experience with the language.</p>

<p>How often do you speak it outside of the classroom?</p>

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<p>For graduate school, French and German are generally the dominant modern research languages. </p>

<p>I don’t buy the whole Arabic thing. How many translators do we really need?</p>

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<p>*For graduate school, French and German are generally the dominant modern research languages. *</p>

<p>I see. I guess that narrows it down somewhat.</p>

<p>*I don’t buy the whole Arabic thing. How many translators do we really need? *
I hear that a lot with arabic and spanish</p>

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<p>My suggestion would be to continue with Spanish. Assuming you stay a history major, when you figure out what area you want to study, you can start that language. It’s quite easy to take intensive language courses in the summer so I wouldn’t stress too much about the language thing. Learning a new one is very doable on “short notice.”</p>

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<p>well assuming the government gets a $#%^load of intel every day, only so much can be put through google translate and come out understandable. The rest has to be translated by a translator.</p>

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<p>“My suggestion would be to continue with Spanish. Assuming you stay a history major, when you figure out what area you want to study, you can start that language. It’s quite easy to take intensive language courses in the summer so I wouldn’t stress too much about the language thing. Learning a new one is very doable on “short notice.””</p>

<p>So far i’ve been getting a lot of help guys, thanks.</p>

<p>I think i’ve narrowed it down to spanish, french, italian.</p>

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<p>With Russian you could get a job, like with the CIA or foreign diplomacy. Considering current post-Soviet relations with Russia, it would be helpful.</p>

<p>But really, take what you are most interested in and what you will enjoy the most. I’m taking Japanese, and I have no idea what I’m going to use it for, but I’ll figure it out eventually.</p>