This discussion is now closed.

Check out other Related discussions

Which language?

Poll

Which language should I learn?

Right, so I'm trying to have a look at what I'd like to do next year and was thinking of doing a 3rd language module. My problem is my list of languages I want to learn is rather large and I'm having troubles deciding. I do not care about how much a language is useful (given that I'm already studying Russian, Arabic and can speak French and English, I believe I'll be fine), I just want a language that will be interesting and culturally challenging. The choice offered at my university is impressive, however, only 4 of them appeal to me.

I - Hebrew
Right, first, there's the alphabet. But as many already knows, the alphabet is often the easiest part of a foreign language, and having studied Greek and now doing Russian and Arabic, I'm pretty sure I can cope with another alphabet. It's a semitic language, and even if easier than Modern Standard Arabic, it's not a walk in the park in comparison with some other languages. However, I really love the sound of it and I have a genuine interest in the Middle East, so combined with Arabic, I'm sure it could give me a rather large knowledge (linguistically speaking) of the region.

II - German
I fell in love with German when I went to Germany for a week, two years ago. I know a couple of words like "hello" and "thank you", but that's about it. German has cases, though, and even if I'm now used to them, I'm a bit scared I'll get them confused with Russian. However, there are lots of similarities between the two languages and it may be easier when studied in English, given the common roots. It's also a country sharing a border with France and the language is of some interest if I want to work for the EU.

III - Portuguese
I studied Italian and speak French, so I'm pretty sure this one won't be as hard as the first two if I want to learn it. However, there's not that many levels offered by the university and I'm afraid it'll be packed with Portuguese people than can't speak it (as it seems to be the case for the degree course). It sounds a bit weird and even if I like it, I'm not quite sure the culture will interest me as much as for the other languages.

IV - Italian
Finally, Italian. I've studied it for 5 years, at school, didn't get a very good grade for my final exam and now, despite being able to understand and translate it quite easily, I can't really speak or write it at all. It'll deffo be easier than any other languages I could study and it'd mean that the workload wouldn't be too heavy. However, it isn't a new language for me and I kind of want to have a look at something else. The culture amazes me, I love their literature and history, and even if I've never been there, I'm pretty sure I'd love it.

Btw, no need to ask, I don't want to learn Spanish, I have no remote interest in the culture, I'm not a big fan of the way it sounds and despite wanting to go to Argentina, I'd rather have an original combination of languages, rather than just Spanish. It also applied for Catalan. Plus I think it wouldn't too difficult to learn it if I ever need it, so at the moment, I'm not considering it. I don't want to learn any Asian (as in Mandarin, Japanese, Urdu) language either, because I don't want to have to cope with something as difficult as what I'm doing right now and I don't have any particular interest in any of the cultures. Dutch and Turkish are out of the way too, I don't know any of them and I'm not sure I really want to, anyway. Polish and Greek are of no interest either, and well, that's pretty much all.

In the end, I think I'm more attracted to Hebrew and German as they're a bit more challenging for me than Portuguese and Italian. However, I don't know which one would be the less hassle given my current combination of languages, and there are some other things to be taken into account: German may be easy for English natives, but I'm French and it doesn't have much in common with German, so I'm guessing it won't be as easy for me as for English students that would be with me in the lessons. Also, I don't know which one would be the easiest to pronounce. Anyway, that's about it, so if you can help me, don't hesitate!

Reply 1

nikki

9

German pronunciation should be fairly easy for you, the sounds which don't appear in English surely appear in at least one of French, Russian or Arabic. I don't actually know any Hebrew, but as far as I'm aware, modern Hebrew pronunciation isn't too difficult either.

I would suggest Hebrew, because I imagine finding Hebrew courses elsewhere will be quite difficult so it would be good to take advantage of it while you can.

Reply 2

username196545

19

Oy vey, I don't like the sound of Hebrew, plus it's pretty useless outside of Israel (a country with a pop. of 8 million, where the vast vast majority speak English).

I know basic Hebrew, and it's just not very pleasant. :dontknow:

Easy to read though.

Reply 3

faber niger

17

So you're staying at Manchester?

I know that you ruled out Asian languages, but I've just started Mandarin lessons -- just two two-hour sessions a week -- at the Confucius Institute here; they're very good. That, of course, wouldn't be a module choice though.

Anyway, I personally like the sound of Italian. And if you've studied it before, not only may you have somewhat of an advantage but your past study would surely seem all the more fruitful if you can get to a decent level in it.

Reply 4

Anatheme

OP

18

jismith1989

So you're staying at Manchester?

I know that you ruled out Asian languages, but I've just started Mandarin lessons -- just two two-hour sessions a week -- at the Confucius Institute here; they're very good. That, of course, wouldn't be a module choice though.

Anyway, I personally like the sound of Italian. And if you've studied it before, not only may you have somewhat of an advantage but your past study would surely seem all the more fruitful if you can get to a decent level in it.

Yes, I haven't had any offer from Durham and I think it'd be easier if I stay in Manchester. I like the sound of all four languages, Portuguese a bit less than the others but it's fine. I really don't want to start Mandarin because I don't like the sound of it at all, because it's not a language that interests me much (see, I prefer words rather than ideas, when I speak), and I know it's gonna be harder at some point, and I'm not sure I want to deal with that.

Bubbles, you don't like Arabic either, is there any language I want to study and that you like as well? :sad:

Reply 5

SpiritedAway

17

German, but then I am biased.
It's a really nice language and it's a widely spoken language (correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe it's the most widely spoken language in Europe).

Reply 6

username196545

19

Anatheme

Yes, I haven't had any offer from Durham and I think it'd be easier if I stay in Manchester. I like the sound of all four languages, Portuguese a bit less than the others but it's fine. I really don't want to start Mandarin because I don't like the sound of it at all, because it's not a language that interests me much (see, I prefer words rather than ideas, when I speak), and I know it's gonna be harder at some point, and I'm not sure I want to deal with that.

Bubbles, you don't like Arabic either, is there any language I want to study and that you like as well? :sad:

I like Italian, and I love French, which, you already speak!

Reply 7

TheMeister

15

Hebrew is a little limited in terms of what you can do with it, Portuguese culture is much similar to that of the Spain/South America (which you've already ruled out) and Italian is another language that's limited in scope - unless, of course, you wanted to romance an Italian man/woman. So, that leaves German? I'm sure that fits in with the already gruff languages of Russian and Arabic. :grin:

Reply 8

Dirac Delta Function

14

If you know Arabic, I don't think hebrew will be all that difficult. I'm a native Arabic speaker, and I can decipher simple hebrew sentences.

Persian is an option you might want to consider too. It's relatively easy to pick up and it opens the door to a vast body of culture and history, plus there are 70 million people who speak it. It's a very soft language too, in contrast to the semitic languages which are harsher and more "masculine".

Reply 9

Anatheme

OP

18

TheMeister

Hebrew is a little limited in terms of what you can do with it, Portuguese culture is much similar to that of the Spain/South America (which you've already ruled out) and Italian is another language that's limited in scope - unless, of course, you wanted to romance an Italian man/woman. So, that leaves German? I'm sure that fits in with the already gruff languages of Russian and Arabic. :grin:

I'm curious to know how is Hebrew limited? In terms of where I can speak it, you mean? It's not much of a problem, tbh, it's just a language I'd learn "for fun", not as seriously as my other two. It does sounds nice, though, and I was thinking that learning Hebrew and Arabic would kind of give me a better idea of the situation between countries speaking these languages, and the Middle East really is a region that attracts me (culturally, historically and politically speaking).

Dirac Delta Function

If you know Arabic, I don't think hebrew will be all that difficult. I'm a native Arabic speaker, and I can decipher simple hebrew sentences.

Persian is an option you might want to consider too. It's relatively easy to pick up and it opens the door to a vast body of culture and history, plus there are 70 million people who speak it. It's a very soft language too, in contrast to the semitic languages which are harsher and more "masculine".

I thought of Persian, but the risk of getting it confused with Arabic is quite big, imo, and I therefore ruled it. I prefer to make sure I have languages with barely anything in common at all or sounds different enough not to be confused, and I know that my friend doing Persian and Arabic got them confused sometimes, despite them not being from the same language subdivision. Also, a lots of people told me Hebrew wasn't that difficult and my friends doing Hebrew and Arabic told me it was definitely easier than Arabic, so I may give it a go, just because it sounds interesting.

Reply 10

commando

I'd say either German or Italian, just because you'll find them quite easy and if you're doing 3 languages, you don't want 3 really difficult ones.
Plus German is the most widely spoken language in Europe.

Reply 11

username196545

19

Hebrew is easy to learn. Much easier than Arabic, esp. the writing/reading. The language is mainly new; created mostly by Ben Yehuda. Before that (I think the 1940s) there was just biblical hebrew, there was no words for like train, car, computer etc...

I'm coming back to this thread to say... Hebrew is ok I guess, it's limited but meh it's easy and at least it's unusual.

Reply 12

TheMeister

15

Anatheme

I'm curious to know how is Hebrew limited? In terms of where I can speak it, you mean? It's not much of a problem, tbh, it's just a language I'd learn "for fun", not as seriously as my other two. It does sounds nice, though, and I was thinking that learning Hebrew and Arabic would kind of give me a better idea of the situation between countries speaking these languages, and the Middle East really is a region that attracts me (culturally, historically and politically speaking).

I meant globally speaking as there isn't much of a Hebrew-speaking community in the world (it's mainly central on Isreal - obviously) but nevertheless, it seems in the quote here that you know which language you want to do. I say just go for it, you quite clearly have made your mind up already. :p:

Reply 13

Anatheme

OP

18

TheMeister

I meant globally speaking as there isn't much of a Hebrew-speaking community in the world (it's mainly central on Isreal - obviously) but nevertheless, it seems in the quote here that you know which language you want to do. I say just go for it, you quite clearly have made your mind up already. :p:

Mmmh, actually, I think I'd rather go for German :holmes:

It's just that when I have to make a decision I like to challenge opinions to see if I'm being wrong somewhere, and it's quite helpful :teeth:

.

Reply 14

renaissancemensch

Well, I don't see much point in your studying Italian if you've already studied it, can understand it, and want something new.
As has been mentioned, you'll have a headstart with Hebrew vocabulary because of teh Arabic. But at the same time, you've complained in the past about your Arabic course being full of Muslims who've already studied the language and are way ahead of you the whole time- could that also be the case with Jews in the Hebrew course? Just a thought, though I doubt that would make any difference. Those that say Hebrew is limited in scope are forgetting the wealth of its literature - some great modern literature, some of the best writers alive today are writing in the Hebrew language (including a favourite novelist of mine, David Grossman), as well as some wonderful modern poetry. Not to mention the wealth of classical/biblical Hebrew literature (whose language is no way near as different from Modern Hebrew as classical/Qur'anic Arabic is from spoken Arabic).
As for German, I don't think you should worry about the cases. If you can handle Russian cases, German will be easy enough (there are only four, i.e. no instrumental, prepositional etc.). A lot of the rules concerning the accusative and dative in Russian are actually identical. You won't get confused- the alphabet will set the two sufficiently apart. Of course, it's also one of the great cultures and literatures of teh world. And it would be totally new. So my recommendation would be German, and if not, Hebrew.

Reply 15

Noémie

17

hebrew. did you know the hebrew word for shower is "douche"? there's plenty of examples like that. there's a reason right there! and you can go to israel easier if you speak arabic AND hebrew. jobs for arabic/hebrew to english/french translation. volunteering in israel, teaching etc. volunteering in palestinian resettlement camps.
but tbh you know i'd back hebrew any day! best language ever imo, i love the way it sounds and how it's written and how simple and practical it is.
failing that, german. it sounds fit.

Reply 16

renaissancemensch

Noémie

volunteering in palestinian resettlement camps.

(What's a Palestinian "resettlement camp"?)

Reply 17

Neville 'Facking' Bartos

12

Dirac Delta Function

If you know Arabic, I don't think hebrew will be all that difficult. I'm a native Arabic speaker, and I can decipher simple hebrew sentences.

Persian is an option you might want to consider too. It's relatively easy to pick up and it opens the door to a vast body of culture and history, plus there are 70 million people who speak it. It's a very soft language too, in contrast to the semitic languages which are harsher and more "masculine".

What are you trying to imply? :eyeball: