<p>As part of my requirements for Comparative Literature, I am required to learn two languages besides English. I am fluent in Spanish and I love Spanish literature so that is my first choice and there is no question about it. However I am having a tough time deciding which should be my second language. I am definitely thinking about choosing between Russian, German, or Italian. Russian literature has some of the greatest novels while German is an amazing language and easy to learn. I don't know much about German literature but I am curious to learn more about the subject. As for Italian, I love some of the classics and it is close to Spanish so it might be easier for me to take this on. However, I am having trouble picking from the three. Can anyone post anything about these different languages and their Literature? </p>
Italian would definitely be easiest. I’ve taken Spanish, French, Italian, German, Mandarin, Arabic, Hebrew, and Hindi, and found German harder than the Romance languages even though English is Germanic. At least the Romance languages have only two genders and no case marking except on pronouns. Russian would be very challenging – having to learn a different writing system can really slow you down. When I took Mandarin/Arabic/Hebrew/Hindi, I’d read just one paragraph and feel like I’d run a marathon, it was so exhausting. And I say this as someone who loves languages and voluntarily learned Tolkien’s Elven script in middle school. I mean, if you can handle Russian, that’s awesome and I salute you, but I’d be wary, personally.