any suggestions for foreign language?

hsmomstef
Thu, 11 Jan 2007 00:35:41 +0000

my son has taken Mandarin and Arabic and had some comments to make.

mandarin – very difficult because of the tones. Best to learn this in an immersion program. Very hard to pick up in a regular classroom situation – at some point you have to go to China and live there in order to master it.

Arabic – easy in the sense that the rules apply to the entire language, very hard in the sense that it is so foreign to the English speaker. “to be” verb is implied, etc. Plus – Modern Standard Arabic is usually the one that is taught – but most countries have their own colliquial form. you can speak MSA fairly well and not be able to be understood on the street in Egypt (there are some big differences in pronounciation). If you really know MSA, you can do ok – but you need to be at a higher level than basic because of the different forms. However Arabic is going to be in demand.

My vote – take what he is interested in. And I would suggest an immersion program. Not only do you learn more – but you get a good jump start on fluency and some motivation for continuing in the language. My son took Mandarin for two years in a regular classroom situation and a summer in Cairo – and he knows tons more Arabic and is much more motivated to continue in the language.