Best language for an International Relations/ Econ major??

MYOS1634
Thu, 22 Jun 2017 23:20:40 +0000

In terms of difficulty as evaluated by the DoD, French is level 1b, German level 2, Russian level 4. It means that to reach a usable level (“threshold” or CEF B1) you’ll need about twice as much time for Russian than for German, and not quite twice as long for German compared to French but about three to four times more for Russian compared to French.

That being said, Russian is indeed a critical language, with critical language flagships at Bryn Mawr (women’s college), Portland state (primarily adult commuter urban college), UCLA, and UWisconsin Madison.

If you’re gifted at languages and are ready to invest in learning your new language, it can easily become a strategic choice, especially if you major in Russian area studies or get into a flagship.