scribbler91

So I'm probably not going to do this, but it just popped into my head that I *could* actually take Chinese this semester instead of a writing seminar (I'm already taking 311 Japanese).
This is probably a really bad idea since it does nothing for requirements (wharton student), but I'm just curious to see what the knowledgeable people on this forum have to say. Once again, I'm probably not going to do this but it didn't even strike me as a possibility before and now I kind of wish I could haha. (hmm maybe I should have done CAS)

Thanks in advance!

cdz512

Considering the fact that Mandarin is one of the most used language in international business, it doesn't hurt to learn a bit.

nychica

i'm just dropping mine because i'm going to take span202 because it's easier than a writing seminar, or it should be, and b/c now that they're adding that research paper component to writing seminars, i'm gonna wait to see how those are and then probably put the writing seminar off til next fall.
now that they're changing the writing seminars, i realized that the penn course review ratings are no longer accurate. this way, i'll know in time 4 next yr.

Awped

Chinese fits into language arts and culture I believe; business chinese actually double counts for wharton. Why do you think taking Chinese is a bad idea?

scribbler91

But doesn't my Japanese already fill the language arts and culture? I intend to take it throughout my four years (well, at least that's my plan for now).
Chinese would kind of just be a random additional elective that doesn't fill anything...whereas writing seminar fills the writing req, or say legal studies fills a req...
I don't know what to do! I mean I do like the writing seminar I'm signed up for...but I really want to take Chinese haha.

nychica

i was thinking of taking business spanish (span215) but i think i have 2 take span202 1st but if i do 202 now, i can do 215 next semester.

i might just drop spanish though and do a course in chinese or arabic b/c both courses are equally valuable in the business world imo.

idk i wanted 2 get the writing seminar over w/ also but my thinking is, if i don't firmly establish myself in a language now, i'll miss out on really solidifying my language base later.

i'm not sure which language i'm taking yet, but i know i'm taking one and i don't have room to take a writing seminar. i think it's fate though b/c i was kinda worried about the research papers and this way, i'll find out from ppl ahead

stonecoldreject

^ either way won't you have to deal with the research papers anyway? I'm a pre-frosh too so take it with a grain of salt, but I've heard that the writing seminars are for the most part really annoying and not entirely useful and most people want to get them over with (which would free them to take more interesting - and maybe more useful things in the future). Putting it off until the fall of sophomore year just seems like a drag

Awped

^There were juniors and seniors in my writing seminar...

nychica

this way u can know what yr dealing w/ ahead of time. i wanna see the reviews on pcr after the writing seminars b/c i think they could change things quite a bit, so i'm just gonna wait it out.

in addition to chinese and arabic, hindi is an interesting idea for a business language since india is such a nation on the rise. chinese still seems better to me though.