Language study during school

[South]

Hey everyone, registration for fall classes are coming up and I have to take a foreign language class. I know SFAS is a long way away, but I was thinking about language requirements in SF and am wondering if I could get some input about which language to study, since I have to anyway. I have been doing a lot of research about this the past few days but I'm still not sure how language selection works during the Q course. I want to be in the 5th Special Forces Group if possible, so it would probably be helpful to start learning one of those languages. I think Arabic is offered here but apparently it's one of the most difficult languages for an English speaker to learn, due to the fact that they actually have some sounds that we don't, and therefore even have slightly different muscle development in the jaw. (or so I've read.) So, I noticed that French is also a language of the 5th. Could I learn French and still be assigned to the 5th? Do you have any say in what language you are assigned and what group you go to? Or is it just solely based on the needs of SF in general?

I assume the language training is very good regardless of past training, I just figured killing two birds with one stone wouldn't hurt. Thanks for any input!

[Team Sergeant]

Trust me, Middle Eastern languages are not as hard as Asian languages.....

We learn both hostile and friendly languages. You might want to look into Kurdish.... I'm betting we hang with the Kurds for a long long time.....

[South]

Oh, I can imagine that would be a headache. Especially the reading. I actually really wanted to learn Kurdish but unfortunately my school doesn't have it.. I guess I will end up learning French. I just hope I won't get assigned to I believe it's 3rd and 10th that also have French. It wouldn't affect my contentedness much, but I definitely would like to be in the Mid Eastern AOR.

[JJ_BPK]

The middle east is going to be hot for years, but there are other areas that are getting the same heat.

The march of the Qur'an thru SEA and across the Southern Pacific is getting little PR.

Africa is another area that gets little PR and should..

Then there is South America. Argentina is getting warm..

Because these areas have innumerable permutation of local dialect, you might be better served by a classic,, Chinese, French, Spanish.

UNLESS, you have access to family or friends that can give you "local" dialect immersion.

You need more than an ability to order beer and buy bus tickets..

My $00.00002

[South]

Well, I do have an uncle that is a missionary to Colombia, and speaks fluent Spanish. I also took Spanish in high school, not that I remember much of it. But, I think I will do as you suggest with the classics. But, I will try my hand at French instead of sticking with Spanish. Thank you for the help!

[Mad_Moracan]

Being a French speaker and now in 5th I would NOT take French (now I am learning Arabic). There are very few places where you can use French within 5th typical area of responsibility and if you want to go to 5th group taking French will decrease your chances of getting assigned there. Most French speakers go to 10th group and very few to 3rd (at least from what I have seen). You don’t have to be fluent by the time you finish the course, just the ability to read and have some comprehension will put you ahead of the game when/if you go to language school.

[SouthernDZ]

In looking to the future, you might want to consider studying Farsi...

[zfm7th]

Want to go to 5th. Arabic. No question.