<p>I forgot to mention I have a small but somewhat strong background in Italian, but I doubt there would be all too much crossover with French.</p>
<p>I feel I would really like to try Turkish just to see the workings of it (especially since the course is an one time offering), but that French would be more stable, something Japanese has, in my experience, lacked. Russian would be a good blend of the two fascets, but I know it is VERY diifficult to advance in, which worries me a wee bit...</p>
<p>" and showing off reading the headlines in the Polish newspaper to impress my FIL. "</p>
<p>Hehe, same here. My companions get a kick out of it. I actually got a lot out of my first year Russian class. Russian grammar is easy to learn (only three verb tenses) but difficult to master so you need to practice CONSTANTLY to become comfortable with the cases (!!!!). But otherwise the vocabulary isn't too terrible as it has a lot of French and English influence. The Cyrillic is easy to learn- I just wish the letters would be bigger (I remember blowing up articles on the copier so I could translate more easily while I was an intern last year). The handwriting is really pretty.</p>
<p>if you're not totally serious about learning a language and looking for a fun class, go with Turkish! Otherwise, just go for Russian or French if you're looking to do some more work.</p>
<p>As a native Russian speaker, I will guarantee to you that you won't get anything out of taking Russian for one semester. It is an extremely complicated language, much harder to learn than any Romance language, and difficult even for native speakers to master grammatically. I know several Americans that have studied it for years and hardly have achieved fluency. In the first semester, you'll focus on learning elementary things that are not likely to help you advance in any career unless you are serious in devoting years of study to the language. You have to consider your goals in studying a language seriously, and unless you are planning on working with Russian immigrant populations or immigration policy, the demand for Russian, unfortunately, is not what is used to be.</p>
<p>The most useful foreign language to know in the United States is Spanish, and I agree with the poster that suggested taking a semester of that. Of your three choices, French would be the most logical. </p>
<p>I am always happy to see interest in Russian, as it is one of the richest and most expressive languages in the world (I'm biased, but still). It's great when others learn it well. Nonetheless, I come from a family with extensive linguistic experience, and I think that unless you plan to continue studying it for years, you will not gain any practical knowledge from one course.</p>
<p>"I forgot to mention I have a small but somewhat strong background in Italian, but I doubt there would be all too much crossover with French."</p>
<p>Oh there's tons of crossover. I got very lazy learning Italian because I'd look at say irregular verbs and say oh the same group that are irregular in French are irregular in Italian, but I wouldn't quite study the Italian endings. I spoke fluent French having lived there a year. With a semester of Italian I could pick up a magazine and read articles with about 75% understanding. I could order meals, get hotel rooms and carry on simple conversations as well.</p>
<p>to all the parents who are familiar with many languages. I would like to ask your opinion. My son is very interested in studing different languages. We are international(korean). My S(junior) is taking Ap Chinese in his international school. He is self studing Japanese and Latin vergil, which he is planning to take AP test in May(he has never visited Japan). His english and Korean is perfect. He will take sat11 Korean to prove this to adcom.
He is interested HYPS. Hopes to major in international relations in college or maybe east asian studies.
How do you think his knowing different languages of asia will affect his admission chances to these selective schools? can this be a minor hook?
Do you think east asian study is competetive in college selection?
thank you for your opinion</p>
<p>I don't think HYPS look that much at potential majors as a reason to accept someone, but some schools do. Asian-americans fluent in their own languages are a dime a dozen, but that's no reason not to prove you are fluent. On the plus side your son has clearly demonstrated an interest and expertise (as measured by AP tests) in foreign languages and East Asian studies fits in with what he's studied. It sounds like there might be the basis of an interesting essay there somewhere. My first boyfriend was an East Asian studies major at Harvard by the way. He went on to law school and is now working for a law firm with offices in Hong Kong.</p>
<p>I'd take Italian so that I could vacation there over and over and over and over...
:)</p>
<p>I agree with tufta...learning cyrllic is a breeze, but the Russian language is brutal, and one semester of it would be worthless. The verbs and numbers almost couldn't be more difficult.</p>
<p>Thank you mathmom for your opinion. also,do you know if east asian studies at harvard is popular?
Does anyone else have any other opinions? Please it would be so much help!</p>
<p>Historically, East Asian Studies has been one of the areas in which Harvard is strongest. I believe the Harvard East Asian Studies program was one of the first "area studies" departments at an American university. It has traditionally been very popular as an undergraduate major, although I don't know about the current figures. </p>
<p>Yale has historically been very strong in Chinese, less so in Japanese and Korean, although again I caution that I don't have current knowledge. Chinese langage and history have always been popular subjects there, and it has a longstanding program in China.</p>
<p>thanks JHS</p>
<p>Russian is the 5th language i try to learn</p>
<p>and i have to say it is very challenging</p>
<p>gender, conjugation, mood, hyper-long vocabularies</p>