Which language should I study, French or Italian?

I want to do Biology with a foreign language at university, the university has emailed me to ask me which language I wish to study. I will choose either French or Italian.

I am currently living in France and learning french and I am good at French... I am level C1 if that means anything to you but no where near fluent! I can have conversations etc. and understand most if they don't speak so fast though! I did it for A-level.
My Italian is basic... I got A* GCSE but where I live in france they speak italian a lot too so i get to practise it, it is hard for me to speak and only basic but i can understand a lot.

i can't decide which to do... which would be better for me. i love french and france but i also really like italian and would love to be fluent in both, my french is already advanced and will be even more advanced by the time i leave france... so... i need some advice!

Reply 1

mysticalfluffy

20

Original post by laseine

I want to do Biology with a foreign language at university, the university has emailed me to ask me which language I wish to study. I will choose either French or Italian.

I am currently living in France and learning french and I am good at French... I am level C1 if that means anything to you but no where near fluent! I can have conversations etc. and understand most if they don't speak so fast though! I did it for A-level.
My Italian is basic... I got A* GCSE but where I live in france they speak italian a lot too so i get to practise it, it is hard for me to speak and only basic but i can understand a lot.

i can't decide which to do... which would be better for me. i love french and france but i also really like italian and would love to be fluent in both, my french is already advanced and will be even more advanced by the time i leave france... so... i need some advice!

I study both at university and love both, so really, I'd say whatever you prefer!

You sound like you'd be motivated to learn Italian. If you put in a bit of effort during the summer you could get the basics and some oral confidence.

With French, you'd have a much easier ride, probably higher grades, though you wouldn't get the extra language.

Personally I find Italian easier in terms of spelling and pronunciation (it's a phonetic language) and French easier in terms of vocabulary-modern French lliterature tends to be quite concise, like English literature, whereas Italian literature is often quite flowery containing many synonyms and archaic language.

Reply 2

Juichiro

18

Original post by laseine

I want to do Biology with a foreign language at university, the university has emailed me to ask me which language I wish to study. I will choose either French or Italian.

I am currently living in France and learning french and I am good at French... I am level C1 if that means anything to you but no where near fluent! I can have conversations etc. and understand most if they don't speak so fast though! I did it for A-level.
My Italian is basic... I got A* GCSE but where I live in france they speak italian a lot too so i get to practise it, it is hard for me to speak and only basic but i can understand a lot.

i can't decide which to do... which would be better for me. i love french and france but i also really like italian and would love to be fluent in both, my french is already advanced and will be even more advanced by the time i leave france... so... i need some advice!

French will be more useful.

Reply 3

laseine

OP

Original post by Juichiro

French will be more useful.

yeah this is what i decided on, would rather be totally fluent in french than moderate in both.

Reply 4

xJessx

18

French will be a lot more useful and the fact that you already speak it to an advanced level means that you won't be distracted from biology as much by trying to improve.