I don’t need foreign language credits necessarily; I just have some electives requirements and I’d like to make them useful and interesting to me. On the other hand, the next few semesters I’ve got a lot of credit hours, so I’m trying to make sure I don’t get into something that will take up all of my time.
I realize that just taking a few classes won’t give you enough background to speak fluently, but I wanted to familiarize myself with one to help me out. I think I’m going with Spanish. Now off to fix the rest of my schedule…
Not to hijack the OP, but I’ve been pondering a couple of languages (actually, a few dozen ) that I may study in the future. I’d really like to catch up with my honey, who speaks five languages, and is considering learned a few more (!). I’d appreciate some comment from folks who’ve studied them as to their relative ease and usefulness. In no particular order, they are:
French – I’ve actually got a pretty decent vocabulary and can put together simple sentences. Having family members who are French speakers has made this one easier to pick up. It’s spoken in France (duh), parts of Canada, and all throughout the Middle East and Africa, not to mention diplomatic circles worldwide.
Turkish – interesting language, interesting country, interesting people. And it’s written with the Roman script! Unfortunately, not as common worldwide as French, and I’d be confined mostly to Turkey.
Urdu – mostly because it’s my honey’s favorite language (though not his native language; that’s Pashto) and he can make it sound marvelously sexy. I’d like to know what all that lovely looking poetry he writes me says without having to ask him. It’s spoken in India and Pakistan chiefly, and is very similar to Hindi, so it’d be like getting two languages for the price of one!
Pashto – it’s my honey’s native language, and the tongue used by his tribe, the Pashtuns. Spoken by lots of Afghans, some Iranians, and quite a few Pakistanis.
Arabic – I understand Egyptian Arabic is the best to learn, as it is more widely understood than the other dialects. Spoken throughout the Middle East. Notoriously difficult language for English speakers, often ranked right under Chinese.
Swahili – Most widely used language in Africa; might be useful if I ever go to work or visit there. Very fun sounding language.
) that I may study in the future. I’d really like to catch up with my honey, who speaks five languages, and is considering learned a few more (!). I’d appreciate some comment from folks who’ve studied them as to their relative ease and usefulness. In no particular order, they are: