<p>I need your opinion on the "ranking" of how "in-demand" these courses are: Arabic, Mandarin, Japanese, or Russian.</p>
<p>I'm taking at least one language course each semester for the rest of my college undergrad. I'm currently interning in DC and there really is a mix of everything. I'm continuing my work in the government after I graduate and would like to get involved in military affairs. Arabic seems like the obvious answer but one could make an argument that it could apply to any of these (except Japanese, I guess. They're peaceful with the US).</p>
<p>I would pick mandarin or Japanese. Mandarin for obvious reasons regarding US Foreign policy and our debt to them… Japanese based on the fact that all the hot technological innovations seems to derive from there.</p>
<p>Not to hijack the thread but I also wish to know how difficult each language is to learn/become fluent in if studied in college. I’ve also considered these languages. </p>
<p>I strongly suggest Mandarin. It will help you in the long run. Yes, its difficult–the hardest part is the tones of the words/characters. There are 4 tones, but once you get past it, you can be very useful when you apply for jobs. It will also make you interesting b/c you know another language! </p>
<p>Sorry, can’t speak for the other languages! haha</p>
<p>Interficio, I would say they ALL are of equal difficulty because none of them have any link to our western alphabet whatsoever (…right?). </p>
<p>It’s an entirely new language, whereas English and romance languages have common roots. I’ve taken French all four years of high school and I took Spanish my first two semesters of college and there were A LOT of similarities. </p>
<p>And no worries about the hijacking, I was wondering that too!</p>
<p>
Thank you! I would like to learn Japanese JUST for that reason lol! </p>
<p>
Thanks, but how would it help in the long run? Why is it more sought after than the others? Could you list some examples please?</p>
<p>lol thanks anyways nerd0403. i agree that they each have their own special applications. </p>
<p>china = political icon & massive producer of goods & services
japanese = technological advances and have a very peaceful relationship + economy
arabic = oil + politics
russian works well bc of chemical nukes & stuff (as you can tell i don’t know much of russia)</p>
<p>I’d agree with Mandarin as your first choice. It’s one of the most spoken languages in the world, and China is becoming a very important economic power.
Arabic is widely spoken around the world as well, and Japanese is nice if you want to delve into the unique world of Japan. I wouldn’t be in a rush with Russian, but it is nice to know.</p>
<p>One of the benefits of the US being a superpower and past English colonization is that English is the top “foreign language” in foreign countries. Pretty much every kid in China, Japan, and the Middle East (not sure about Russia) learns English as their foreign language. Thus, don’t waste your time learning a foreign language just for the communication benefit. I’m sure others would be more comfortable with you if you knew their native language, which could help, but consider spending your time learning something else more useful.</p>
<p>Well I’m a native Russian speaker…
And let me tell you, I don’t think think it’s demand…just from life experience, I don’t meet any Russian speaking people except for family friends here in America. We’re not very common anywhere here. And my parents also have never meet any in their jobs…
The only time I heard strangers speaking Russian was in NYC.
I think the same is true for Japanese.</p>
<p>Arabic and Chinese, on the other hand, are different. You can meet people who speak it everyday.</p>
<p>I think Arabic would be great to learn since followers of Islam in many different countries will know the language. (While there’s a lot of business in China, in Asia English is taught from very early age, so most likely they will already know English whoever it is you are dealing with)</p>
<p>There are not enough non-Muslim and Middle Eastern people who know Arabic! It is also one of the main languages used by the United Nations. Learning it would very helpful and impressive I think
So go for Arabic</p>
<p>wow burgerbread, you know i never thought of it that way and your post seriously just blew my mind.</p>
<p>it does help to learn though, even if you’re not communicating. at my internship there’s always a need for those of us who can translate documents (i’m in dc) and recordings. but seriously, you have a good point there.</p>
<p>Burgerboy, just wait when America loses its credit rating… The amount of money we owe China is astronomical. In fact, way bigger than the number of galaxies in the known universe, or the size of the known universe in light years… We are in some deep ****</p>
<p>I would recommend not picking Japanese. Economically they are in decline while Russia, China, and the Arab world are in incline. </p>
<p>I feel like China is saturated with English speakers. And how many come here from China, learn English, and go back to China? Probably not worth it learning Chinese either.</p>
