Best language for an International Relations/ Econ major??

mackinaw
Fri, 23 Jun 2017 02:35:18 +0000

To the OP. I recommend going with your interests. I learned Spanish in middle and high school, German and Russian in college. I actively used Russian most in my (academic) career. If you do want to learn Russian, I think you should begin it as soon as possible, and take advantage of possibilities for intensive exposure in summers, perhaps at Middlebury or another intensive program (Columbia, Indiana, Norwich, or others). You could become fluent if you work hard at it – 3-4 years in college, supplemented by intensive speaking opportunities.

On a degree-of-difficulty scale for you (as a native Spanish speaker), say on a 5-point scale, I would put French at 1. German at 2.5, and Russian at 4. (Chinese would be a 5+.) But in the end, it’s a question of exposure and the amount of time you give to it. Exposure could include travel and a period of study in-country (France, Germany, Russia) for summer or semester abroad.