<p>I am going to U of R in NY and I was wondering what foreign language should I learn. I am fluent in French (AP French completed in Sophomore year). I will be a Computer Science major perusing the 3-2 MBA program. I am currently a senior enrolled in Spanish I, but am not thrilled by Spanish. </p>
<p>My mother suggested Russian as she is a full Russian (born, grew up and lived through the Cold War in Moscow). I might want to continue the most advanced French they have, or begin learning German. I am considering minoring in a language.</p>
<p>What do you think is the best language to learn in college?</p>
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In your case, I’d continue with French in order to become really fluent (AP is CEF B1, not fluent, even though completing the AP level sophomore year is impressive). Since UR is unusually flexible, you may want to start with Russian and have two semesters of it. It’s very hard though.
There’s no ‘best language’ one size fits all. Since you’re going to be doing math-related work as well as CS, French and Russian make sense. For tourism, Spanish and French. For work with emerging markets, portuguese and hindi. Chinese if you’re adventurous and linguistically gifted. For any work involving Africa, French and Swahili. For medical/health professions, Spanish and another commonly spoken language in local immigrant communities (urdu, russian, creole…)
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I would second your mother’s sentiment and suggest Russian if you’re up for it. Russian is in incredibly short demand and the U.S. State Department would be quite happy to find some Russian Majors. In the end though, you should choose whichever language you will enjoy studying the most. Best of luck!
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