<p>Hello Everyone- I will be taking a language next semester and I am very nervous about it! I am an older transfer student and have been out of school for many years. I know all the languages at Cornell will be very challenging, but I heard Italian is easier for people to learn than many other languages. I am also interested in taking Latin. Which would be easier in your experience? (I am aware everyone is different etc. Please just give me some ideas. Thanks!)</p>
<p>Don’t know if this will help much (I don’t know Latin), but for perspective learning Italian should be very similar in difficulty to learning Spanish. I understand Spanish and when I hear a conversation in Italian I understand a fair amount of what they say even though I have not studied Italian. There seems to be a really high number of cognates between the languages.</p>
<p>Latin won’t require the accent that you need to speak Italian, French, or Spanish. But it is a dead language - which could be good or bad. If you have a serious interest in Italian it may be easier for you just because of your enthusiasm. If the accent presents challenges then Latin might be easier for you. </p>
<p>Either way don’t be daunted: I too went back as an older student but did very well in my foreign language requirement (French - 3 years)</p>
<p>Latin is tough. I’m not sure about Italian since I’ve never taken it.</p>
<p>Easier to find a native speaker for Italian!!</p>