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Arabic, Japanese or Russian?

Poll

Which language should I take (alongside French & Spanish) ?

Help! I really don't know which language to pick.. I hope to study French, Spanish & either Arabic, Japanese or Russian.

Japanese: I've done a short course in and really loved it, but I think maybe I wouldn't use it much in a career, and don't know if I'd like to travel to Japan regularly.

Arabic: I went to Egypt recently and fell in love with the language (though I can only say a few phrases) and could see myself going to an Arab country say once or twice a month as part of a job. But I've heard it's quite hard, and if I'd only get to a basic level I'd rather study something which I could take to a higher level.

Russian: My cousin studied Russian and loved it, and it seems that more unis offer it. It also sounds quite hard though?

If anyone studies any of these I'd really appreciate some opinions/advice/reasons for your own choices/advantages and disadvantages of each.

Thanks!

Reply 1

rayray10

i may be biased cause im fluent in arabic, but pick arabic :smile:

it would be very useful in the world of work, lots of translating needed because business/politics between arab countries and england is very frequent!
if you ever need help, my mum runs and arabic school on a saturday - shes headteacher- and im a teaching assistant :smile:

Reply 2

Hikari

1

Japanese would be very useful. Be warned though, it's very intensive. It's really rewarding to learn, however.

Reply 3

olive*

12

flugestuge

Arabic.
As global terrorism increases, it will be increasingly useful. :yep:

I was thinking more along the lines of 'as Dubai's industry keeps growing, it will be increasingly useful.' :shifty:

Reply 4

kenk

Arabic.

If you ever decide to convert to Islam, you'd have a headstart.

But no, seriously, it's more useful than the other two. Geopolitcal and business-wise.

Reply 5

poisson.jaune

Studying a new language with no prior experience will never be easy, I don't think choosing a language simply for simplicities sake would work, especially if your intending to study it at a higher level at some stage -
So its really just a matter of choosing which one you feel most comfortable with, and which one you feel would benefit you the most.

I personally have taken both French and Arabic, and they have both benefited me enormously and helped me develop my language skills, because of their complexity -
And whilst I agree that Arabic might not be the easiest of languages to master, it was certainly the most profitable in helping me develop my skills further.
And to be quite frank, once you have mastered the basic rules of the Arabic language, then almost everything from then on will be much easier to accomplish.

My only concern is that in studying a language, you base your decision on what is most accessible, for instance, knowing people who speak the language of your choice, it does help in abundance.

Reply 6

tazarooni89

20

I'd say Arabic is useful because it's spoken in the greatest number of countries. It's not that difficult either, I don't think. And if your job might include going to Arab countries, it could help with that.

Although I wish I knew Japanese then I could have applied for my dream job with Nintendo :frown:

Reply 7

unamed

13

Arabic - and it's {very little} got some similarities to Spanish - so, if your Spanish is good, you'll have fewer problems learning it. :smile:

And Arabic is useful anywhere in the world, with so many people speaking it - you're sure to always find an Arab. Though, you may not always understand them, there are many different dialects, and not all comprehensible by everyone.. :smile:

Reply 8

XsuchiX

Japanese very beautiful and calm language, has many similarities to spanish too, pronounciation-wise, it could be alittle confusing as some spanish words are the same as japanese words just with different meanings to the language :tongue:

Russian seems quite a harsh language and difficult to learn (however it is a little pleasant sounding [t.A.T.u lover ^ ^])

Arabic would be useful as there are many places in the world where it is spoken, but i've never seen it as such a soft language and the speed of it is insane.

But in the end do what you feel you want to; not what others advice^ ^I hope to do japanese and spanish later on at Uni too (so i'm a little biased..)

Reply 9

sdiana91

17

well, they are all pretty useful... how about mandarin? or something chinese?

me... i take russian.. i'm actually russian but forgotten most of it as i came to england when i was young and it's quite hard to learn... the grammer is a bit complicated but it's good thing to have! maybe japanese? but not sure about arabic... wouldn't see you needing to use it but they all would sound good to have!

Reply 10

madima

arabic, so you know when to use the emergency exit in a bus.

Reply 11

Anatheme

18

mdb

Help! I really don't know which language to pick.. I hope to study French, Spanish & either Arabic, Japanese or Russian.

Japanese: I've done a short course in and really loved it, but I think maybe I wouldn't use it much in a career, and don't know if I'd like to travel to Japan regularly.

Arabic: I went to Egypt recently and fell in love with the language (though I can only say a few phrases) and could see myself going to an Arab country say once or twice a month as part of a job. But I've heard it's quite hard, and if I'd only get to a basic level I'd rather study something which I could take to a higher level.

Russian: My cousin studied Russian and loved it, and it seems that more unis offer it. It also sounds quite hard though?

If anyone studies any of these I'd really appreciate some opinions/advice/reasons for your own choices/advantages and disadvantages of each.

Thanks!

Oh god, I can't remember how many times I wrote about studying Russian or Arabic :facepalm2:

So first, I wouldn't advise picking any of these three languages in a three languages combination, as you will have to split your course and won't have half as much time as someone doing a single honour course. Two languages is demanding, and three languages is a bit crazy, imo. Your year abroad is a bit messed up and you miss out all the civilisation, culture and history of a language by doing three languages, which, imo, isn't a very good choice.

Now, Arabic is a bit of a crazy language. At uni, you will learn Modern Standar Arabic, which is the language used in the media (almost exclusively in the media) and probably the purest Arabic with the Qu'ranic Arabic. Now, in reality, no-one speaks it. You have a large range of dialects and people speaking Moroccan Arabic can't understand Syrian Arabic. So first, your degree is useful to get a good base in Arabic, but don't expect to reach a level anywhere near fluency after it, it'll take you a lot of time spent in the countries to get to speak Arabic at a good level. Also, the grammar is really difficult and you need to be motivated and committed to succeed. You can't just leave it for a week as you'll forget everything. The alphabet is alright if you can see yourself learning 3x28 letters that look nothing like letters, and the pronunciation is a bit depressing. Overall, the language is fantastic and sounds amazing, but learning it is pretty soul-destroying.

About Russian, well, I wouldn't say it's much easier than Arabic. It probably is, but not that much. Here again, lots of grammar, tough, confusing, annoying grammar you need to just sit and learn by heart and then do loads of exercises to finally understand a bit of it. It's a demanding language as well, and I'd say go for Russian over Arabic given that there is only one kind of Russian, that you'll probably reach a better level in it at the end of a degree than in Arabic, and also, bear in mind that Russia is developing quite efficiently and they have a lot more natural resources than Arabs do, plus Russians can't speak English very well.

I know nothing about Japanese, and if you still want to do a three languages course (I'd seriously advise you against it, people doing sole Russian and sole Arabic are struggling a lot, and this combined with two other languages doesn't sound like a good idea at all, imo), well, I wouldn't even go near Russian or Arabic. Pick German, Dutch, Italian, Portuguese or any other European language, but don't start one that is so different from anything you've seen before. Oh, and if you have questions about Russian or Arabic, don't hesitate, I'm doing both at uni and can probably give you a good idea of what it is :p:

Reply 12

poisson.jaune

Anatheme

Now, Arabic is a bit of a crazy language. At uni, you will learn Modern Standar Arabic, which is the language used in the media (almost exclusively in the media) and probably the purest Arabic with the Qu'ranic Arabic. Now, in reality, no-one speaks it. You have a large range of dialects and people speaking Moroccan Arabic can't understand Syrian Arabic. So first, your degree is useful to get a good base in Arabic, but don't expect to reach a level anywhere near fluency after it, it'll take you a lot of time spent in the countries to get to speak Arabic at a good level. Also, the grammar is really difficult and you need to be motivated and committed to succeed. You can't just leave it for a week as you'll forget everything. The alphabet is alright if you can see yourself learning 3x28 letters that look nothing like letters, and the pronunciation is a bit depressing. Overall, the language is fantastic and sounds amazing, but learning it is pretty soul-destroying.

What we have here is rather a misrepresentation of Arabic, with respect to your own personal views from your experience of studying the language -
However your description in some places is far from accurate.

I agree, that in general the Arabic language is not an easy one to master, especially at an advanced level, and the grammar specifically can be rather tiresome, it does take some severe dedication and a rigid studying schedule at first while you get to grips with the basics -
Nonetheless, to say that it is soul-destroying is a notable over exaggeration,
and not at all accurate if you take into consideration the many individuals
who have gained a profuse amount of knowledge in studying the language.

And also to call to your attention the fact that every country has its basic or fundamental language, and each region a colloquial form of that fundamental language - It isn't something confined to the Arabic language,
And so long as you study the primary principles, then to be honest there should be little problem in understanding different dialects,
I personally studied Quranic Arabic, and am more than capable of understanding all the different dialects, and do not find it problematic in the least (Also consider here that I myself am not a native Arabic speaker).

So Yes, you do have a valid point in that it is difficult, I wont deny that -
However I feel that your own personal experience of studying the language may be shadowing your representation of it.
(no offence intended)

Reply 13

Anatheme

18

poisson.jaune

What we have here is rather a misrepresentation of Arabic, with respect to your own personal views from your experience of studying the language -
However your description in some places is far from accurate.

I agree, that in general the Arabic language is not an easy one to master, especially at an advanced level, and the grammar specifically can be rather tiresome, it does take some severe dedication and a rigid studying schedule at first while you get to grips with the basics -
Nonetheless, to say that it is soul-destroying is a notable over exaggeration,
and not at all accurate if you take into consideration the many individuals
who have gained a profuse amount of knowledge in studying the language.

And also to call to your attention the fact that every country has its basic or fundamental language, and each region a colloquial form of that fundamental language - It isn't something confined to the Arabic language,
And so long as you study the primary principles, then to be honest there should be little problem in understanding different dialects,
I personally studied Quranic Arabic, and am more than capable of understanding all the different dialects, and do not find it problematic in the least (Also consider here that I myself am not a native Arabic speaker).

So Yes, you do have a valid point in that it is difficult, I wont deny that -
However I feel that your own personal experience of studying the language may be shadowing your representation of it.
(no offence intended)

Ok, so first, my impression of the language being "soul-destroying" might a bit a bit exaggerated, but it's definitely not only me, as a lot of my friends find it hard, and I think the drop out rate can also say a lot. Just for my university, out of 70 students at the beginning of the year, about 40 of them dropped out, I'm still pondering whether to give up or not, you'll find some people on TSR that have dropped out, and I discussed with friends at other universities (Cambridge, Oxford, Leeds, SOAS) telling me that often people dropped Arabic to focus on their other language. So yes, it is a rather difficult language, especially when you only have experience in European languages, as the OP may have.

I'm just reproducing a "worst case scenario" here, as the OP wants to study it as a part of their degree, and I'm saying that I wouldn't advise it at all. Having studied MSA will indeed give you the basis, but you can by no mean use it like Norwegian and Danish or Spanish and Italian, as you probably know that some are mutually incomprehensible, therefore if you focus on one dialect, you won't be able to use it everywhere through the Middle East region. You have to know what you want to do with your Arabic, it may be fine if you stick to Egyptian Arabic, but you'll have to make a choice between Gulf Arabic and Maghrebian Arabic and it doesn't give you as much choice as you might have first expected by choosing to study Arabic. Of course, you can pretend you'll just stick to MSA and speak it all the time (well, if you manage you get a great level, which according to several of my teachers shouldn't be expected after only a degree), but most people won't know it, and some will even misuse it (yes, some political men can't use their case endings properly and there is vocabulary you can use but that nobody will understand, as it also had been nicely said by our native teachers during lessons).

So it's up to you, but I guess these are the kind of things one would like to know before starting a degree in Arabic.

Reply 14

Paul PTS

15

Anatheme

So it's up to you, but I guess these are the kind of things one would like to know before starting a degree in Arabic. I find it difficult to realise that Moroccan Arabic and Syrian Arabic are supposed to be the same language but aren't mutually comprehensible whereas Ukrainian and Polish can understand Russian pretty well when they are three different languages.

Ha-ha!Polish know Russian?!Then Ucrainians had finally invented their own language.

Reply 15

RockyTeya

heeey , i am an arabian , what do u need to know about my language ?!! hehe

Reply 16

BramsSTFU

10

Japanese, so that when they take over the world with robots you can at least try to beg for mercy.

Plus Japanese is so nice to listen to. There were two Japanese women on the bus the other day and they were gabbling away, I wish I could understand lol.

Reply 17

Andylol

14

Japanese!

Love japanese :biggrin:

Reply 18

*A_S_H*

Arabic

am doing it now, as av just fallen in lvoe with it, but yh its reallly reallly harddd :frown:

Reply 19

DominF

2

日本語を勉強してる。 How about this; Japanese doesn't have plurals, very few masculine/feminine specific words and the past/present/future tense system is the easiest I've come across. Plus it looks hella cool to write.

I'm enjoying learning Japanese, it's a nice mix of challenging areas and convenient differences from English, but I can't really offer advice concerning comparing it to the other languages... Sorry. :p:

Arabic, Japanese or Russian?

Which language should I take (alongside French & Spanish) ?

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