sheslostcontrol

is it gpa murder to pick chinese as a language if you're an absolute beginner?

i'm only asking because i would go crazy if i had to take spanish again

Skraylor

Chinese takes hard work to get an A in but I know people who have done it. The hardest part about chinese is being able to pick into a section, they tend to fill up pretty fast.

There are over 20 languages taught tho, I'm sure there's something else that would interest you if you cant get in that.

Duygu

What about Hebrew? Also, would it be possible to do elementary hebrew in combination with another language at the intermediate level?

alsikander441

i did arabic. class is mon-thurs and you spend 2 hours or even more on hw every night (especially at the beginning). grades depend a lot on your teacher. the exams are standardized but some teachers grade harsher than others and dont cover all tested material well. if you work hard you likely can get an a, but know that this class will likely dominate your schedule and can frustrate you when you are trying to focus on other important classes.

in summary, make sure that you really need/want the language to be a part of your career/future life and are really excited about it. if its not really going to help you and you just want to learn for fun then dont take it.

this advice applies to chinese and arabic (both 5 credit, 4days a week). cant comment on hebrew.

alsikander441

btw skys right they fill up fast. language classes like arabic/chinese have 10-15 people (easier languages like spanish usually have more). if you cant get into your section just go to the class and try to get the lecturer to sign the add/drop form, or just ask upperclassmen how to get into classes when you get here

alsikander441

feel free to ask any more specific questions either here or over pm. taking a lang like arabic/chinese is a big commitment. i wish i had asked more questions when i was deciding. thats not to say i wish i didnt take it, i just didnt fully understand the negatives and still am not sure how the positives will unfold.

Skramata

I know that choosing two similar languages to learn (such as Spanish and Italian) can be a really big no-no. However, since Spanish and Chinese are so different, do you think there will be much trouble if I try to take both? Or is it a plausible workload?

Shraf

i dont understand this comment...who sets these standards and who is stopping you from taking both if you want to?

alsikander441

he means it can be difficult to take two languages that are linguistically similar because you may confuse grammatical concepts or have problems differentiating and reproducing the similar sounds when you have both classes on the same day.

Its a valid concern. Its not uncommon at all for people to let spanish/italian/french words slip into their Arabic sentences in class even though they arent studying the spanish/italian/french anymore (and those languages arent even vaguely similar to arabic). if u are worried about how your language courses might stack up together, i suggest u ask a prof / the chair of the language department when you get here. from my experience they are very approachable and helpful

alsikander441

however i cant imagine how you would have time in your schedule for two language classes w/ HW @ 4x a week and still maintain a respectable courseload (unless you are linguistics major). from my experience i was incredibly busy with only one last year.

mardad

Similar languages may use similar sounding words to mean different things which can lead to confusion. Language teachers often refer to these words as "false friends."
My favorite anecdote is the one about Helen Lawrenson who was sent by the American Communist party to Chile in the late 30s to spy for German submarines.
One of the Chileans asked her if she was a communist.
She replied, "No, pero soy muy simpatico."
(No, but I'm very charming)

Shraf

oh i see...yea, i agree completely with that....i thought he meant they wouldnt let you do it or its looked down upon somehow

Skramata

Alsikander441 and mardad beat me to the explanation. Thank you, the two of you!

And thanks to everyone for the advice. I'll be taking it into consideration, especially the "class is four times a week" thing; I hadn't known that (I'd thought that it was like all the other classes - two or three times).

I feel very stupid! I don't think I quite get the joke. Was Lawrenson trying to say she was sympathetic to the communist cause?

My favourite false cognate (falso amigo!) is "embarrassed/embarazada." Although it sounds like the English word "embarrassed", it actually means "pregnant." I've accidentally said, "Yo soy embarazada," when trying to say, "I am embarrassed," before by accident. It leads to awkward (and, yet, hilarious) misunderstandings.

sheslostcontrol

i have no idea what i'm looking for in taking a language but by the way the previous posters described it, i should prob take spanish and keep chinese as a hobby
thanks for your help

cerberus08

Take Hindi. It's an easy A.