So I finally start my first year at the University I’ll be attending in the fall and I’m at a crossroads as to what language I should take to fulfill my foreign language requirement. At first my thoughts were to take Mandarin and do a summer abroad in China as it will be a useful language in the future (maybe) but then I start second thinking the difficulty of taking it and am now thinking German (previously taken it) as it seems it will be easier but useless… What are your thoughts?!
@SteelWill What do you plan on majoring in?
I’m majoring in Business Finance @Hamlin
@Steelwill According to the United States Census Bureau, 18,820,349 Caucasians own a business, 1,090,738 Hispanics own a business and 951,942 Asians own a business.
There are 50 countries in Asia and speak 292 languages in total. I’m going to recommend you learn Spanish for your major.
That’s the only language I won’t take lol I’ve always hated it and think it’s pointless to learn
@SteelWill I do think it’s your best option. German would be useless, french would be useless. Rather, not as useful as the languages enumerated below.
4th in the chart would be African American, African Americans speak English.
Asians have a large scope of languages, Mandarin being the most popular for Chinese, Indians and such are included in the Asian section as well who’s most popular language appears to be Arabic and Indonesian according to Google.
If you don’t care for it then just do what you think is cool. I still recommend Spanish, Mandarin and Arabic however.
Just saying, Spanish is the most viable option.
P.S: You implied what is an easy language that is useful, Spanish is among the simplest and can be interchangeable between French and Italian (Vice Versa). If you’re saying Spanish is useless that’s where you’re wrong. Hispanics make up 17% of the US Population…
Are you planning on becoming fluent in this language or are you just trying to fulfill a language requirement?
With no background in Mandarin, it will take a lot of time and hard work to become fluent in the language. If you think this language will be helpful to you in the future (if you want to live in China or work with a lot of people who speak Mandarin and not English) and do want to become fluent in it, then yes, absolutely start now. If you’re only considering learning Chinese because you have to fulfill a language requirement, then it’s unlikely you’ll become fluent and it’s kind of a moot point.
If you would like to become proficient in a language and don’t have a drive to learn any particular language, then I would just continue with German. Since you already have a background in it, you’ll be able to get further in it than if you started a new language from scratch.
If you’re willing to really work at a language and study abroad in that country, then pick whatever language you think would be most helpful to you. If you think you will live in an area with a large Spanish-speaking population, then take that. If you think you will live in an area with a large Mandarin-speaking population, then take that. English is often the de facto language of the business world, but if you think Mandarin will be helpful to you and you’re willing to put in the (considerable) work to become proficient in it, then take Mandarin.
If you’re only taking the class to fulfill the language requirement, then take whatever you want. It doesn’t really matter. Take whatever interests you the most.
I disagree completely with you that Spanish is pointless to learn. Depending on where you live, Spanish may be much MORE useful than German or Mandarin.