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Old 07-31-2012, 07:36 PM   #1
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Which of these sounds more appealing? I already know English, Spanish and French. I want a language that will help me in the future.
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Old 07-31-2012, 07:48 PM   #2
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latin. It will help you argue on the internetz
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Old 07-31-2012, 07:49 PM   #3
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latin. It will help you argue on the internetz
took latin in high school and wasn't really feeling it. Tu est ancilla

I still remember a lot of it, which surprises me.
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Old 07-31-2012, 07:59 PM   #4
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Tu est ancilla

.
Deshueso tu madre.....

never was very good with the idioms
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Old 07-31-2012, 08:02 PM   #5
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Probably German although I hear that the Romance languages are easy to pick up once you've mastered one of them.
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Old 07-31-2012, 08:07 PM   #6
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I am required to have 13 hours of a language and I am taking Italian. Just finished Italian 1 and am starting Italian 2 in the fall. I really enjoy Italian, though I only enjoy it because Italy is my favorite place I have traveled to. Plus, Italian sounds better... German is just too rough on the ears.
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Old 07-31-2012, 08:19 PM   #7
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I have been leaning towards Italian because I already know spanish and french. It should be easier. I guess I will try it out.
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Old 07-31-2012, 08:22 PM   #8
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Is this just for funsies? After Spanish you are unlikely to learn a language which will benefit your future

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Old 07-31-2012, 08:27 PM   #9
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Sur un platform international en termes de l'utilité,vaut mieux apprendre l'arabe ou une dialect chinois, comme cantonais ou mandarin. Allemand et Italien seront utile si tu habitais L'Allemagne ou en Italie.

I couldn't resist. But seriously though... The major international languages are English French, Spanish, Arabic and I'm not sure if it is Cantonese or Mandarin.
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Old 07-31-2012, 08:31 PM   #10
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Is this just for funsies? After Spanish you are unlikely to learn a language which will benefit your future

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Yea it is for fun.
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Old 07-31-2012, 08:33 PM   #11
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Yea it is for fun.

Well then scratch what I said...
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Old 07-31-2012, 08:33 PM   #12
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I would say Italian is more similar to French and Spanish and will probably be easier to learn. I think German is more fun to speak though.
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Old 07-31-2012, 08:35 PM   #13
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i would say italian is more similar to french and spanish and will probably be easier to learn. I think german is more fun to speak though.
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Old 07-31-2012, 08:37 PM   #14
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Is this just for funsies? After Spanish you are unlikely to learn a language which will benefit your future

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what about Russian? though that might just be around here. But I know a lot of people here only speak Russian, which makes things difficult. Same with Vietnamese and Hmong.
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Old 07-31-2012, 08:39 PM   #15
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Portuguese. Brazil is the biggest economy in Latin America, one of the fastest growing in the world. And it sounds beautiful
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Old 07-31-2012, 08:44 PM   #16
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Portuguese. Brazil is the biggest economy in Latin America, one of the fastest growing in the world. And it sounds beautiful
my institution doesn't have Portuguese as a minor or major.
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Old 07-31-2012, 08:45 PM   #17
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Which of these sounds more appealing? I already know English, Spanish and French. I want a language that will help me in the future.
I'm on the same boat as you, and decided to go for an Asian language starting this summer (Japanese). Out of the ones you listed, German would be more useful in my opinion.
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Old 07-31-2012, 08:49 PM   #18
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I'm on the same boat as you, and decided to go for an Asian language starting this summer (Japanese). Out of the ones you listed, German would be more useful in my opinion.
I really wanted to do Mandarin, but I feel it will be too hard. I don't think I will be able to totally devote all my time to the language.
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Old 07-31-2012, 09:34 PM   #19
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As far as usefulness, I would steer away from another Romance language and learn one from a different family-- Arabic, Russian, Mandarin, Japanese, Korean. Many California schools recommend Spanish and an Asian language.

Of the two you mentioned, I'd pick German for usefulness.
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Old 07-31-2012, 09:48 PM   #20
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To be honest German is a very easy language to pick up as an English speaker.
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Old 07-31-2012, 10:00 PM   #21
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To be honest German is a very easy language to pick up as an English speaker.
Agreed. Many words are phonetically similar, or even written the exact same way. As an English speaker, you should find it almost intuitive what people are saying.

However, the genders will not sync up with Spanish, so that may confuse you. I can't tell you about gender crossovers with Italian and Spanish.
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Old 07-31-2012, 10:05 PM   #22
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I would pick Italian. Why? I really enjoy Spaghetti Westerns...

I have heard that German is very similar to English, so at least it might be easier.
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Old 07-31-2012, 10:43 PM   #23
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my institution doesn't have Portuguese as a minor or major.
Wait, are you doing this for a major or minor to tack on ? ....

Just do Portuguese. Surprise those Brazilians when you whip out that Portunol that will no doubt develop like it does to all the Brazilians who learn Spanish
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Old 08-01-2012, 12:47 AM   #24
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I really wanted to do Mandarin, but I feel it will be too hard. I don't think I will be able to totally devote all my time to the language.
I would suggest mandarin, it will take time to learn it, but it would help you a lot in a clinical setting when you are a doc.
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Old 08-01-2012, 04:42 AM   #25
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I would suggest mandarin, it will take time to learn it, but it would help you a lot in a clinical setting when you are a doc.
Plus, I've noticed in general Asian people are like "Wow, that's cool " when they see you're not just someone who knows a couple words.

Do the one you want, not the one you feel you should do just because it's easier to pick up.
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Old 08-01-2012, 04:45 AM   #26
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Thanks you all for your input.
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Old 08-01-2012, 04:48 AM   #27
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Italian and German are not all that useful. Depending on where you want to practice, I think it would be far better to learn Russian, Korean, Mandarin, Arabic, etc. FYI, Korean is the easiest Asian language to learn because it uses an alphabet and not characters.
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Old 08-01-2012, 04:51 AM   #28
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Italian and German are not all that useful. Depending on where you want to practice, I think it would be far better to learn Russian, Korean, Mandarin, Arabic, etc. FYI, Korean is the easiest Asian language to learn because it uses an alphabet and not characters.
Decided on Mandarin
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Old 08-01-2012, 05:07 AM   #29
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Decided on Mandarin
Aww, King Sejong would be sad. Where in the country are you? Where I live, I've actually never encountered a Mandarin speaker. Only Spanish, Russian, Korean.
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Old 08-01-2012, 06:54 AM   #30
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Aww, King Sejong would be sad. Where in the country are you? Where I live, I've actually never encountered a Mandarin speaker. Only Spanish, Russian, Korean.
Florida. I have encountered few mandarin speakers. But with being an econ minor and whatnot I think mandarin will help when I decide to do a study abroad in china.
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Old 08-01-2012, 07:03 AM   #31
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More people speak German in more places, so German.
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Old 08-01-2012, 08:50 AM   #32
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Mandarin
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Old 08-01-2012, 09:40 AM   #33
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German will benefit you more, but Italian will be easier to learn considering you know other romance languages. I'm also biased towards Italian since it's spoken regularly in my household
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Old 08-01-2012, 10:59 AM   #34
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Plus, I've noticed in general Asian people are like "Wow, that's cool " when they see you're not just someone who knows a couple words.

Do the one you want, not the one you feel you should do just because it's easier to pick up.
Yeah, this is very true... I have learned a couple of phrases in Mandarin and Chinese patients love it. They really appreciate your effort and this puts the at ease with you. OP, I hope you enjoy taking the class and if the class gets really demanding, consider taking as P/F, in the end learning a language is a social endeavor that you should practice outside the classroom. Good luck
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Old 08-01-2012, 11:06 AM   #35
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I'm fluent in English and German, and I live in Florida. I haven't used my German in SOOOO long, but abroad it would be more helpful than Italian (unless you're in Italy). Italian would be a lot easier to learn because it's very similar to Spanish.

I took a semester of Mandarin, and it was HARD. I liked Japanese a lot better, and I found it much easier to learn.
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Old 08-01-2012, 11:28 AM   #36
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I can't wait to start
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Old 08-01-2012, 11:41 AM   #37
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German would probably remind the Adcoms of Dr. Mengele. Take Italian.
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