Summer Language classes

[mfos2]

Hey guys, this summer the local community college is having night classes at the local high schools. French, Spanish, and Korean are what's being offered. Would you recommened taking any or all of these? I'm interested in SF as a lifestyle but currently I don't know if I can even get in the army, but since I have time on my hands due to illness I want to be productive with my time.

Thanks
Mike

[aricbcool]

QP's, if I'm out of bounds answering on this, let me know and I'll delete it.

mfos2,

If it were me, I'd shoot for Spanish.

I would think that you could get a better grasp of Spanish over the summer than Korean in the same time period.

As for French. Think of it this way, France and some of Canada speak French. Mexico, Central America and most of South America speaks Spanish. Bigger region, more turmoil.

Also, should you not be able to get into the Army, you will have many more opportunities to use Spanish in the US than the other two languages.

Those are my completely unqualified opinions on the matter. Ultimately however, it comes down to what you want to do.

--Aric

[NousDefionsDoc]

Phrench is spoken in Algeria, Syria - where else AL?

Yes, it would be worth your while. Any positive learning is worth while, no matter your goal.

[aricbcool]

Originally Posted by NousDefionsDoc

Phrench is spoken in Algeria, Syria

Oops, forgot about Algeria.

Syria eh? Interesting... Learn something new everyday.

Thanks NDD.

--Aric

[Cincinnatus]

Lebanon, Tahiti, parts of the Caribean.

[Cincinnatus]

Some restaraunts on the upper West Side of Manhattan.

[jatx]

Study whichever one interests you the most, that's the only way you'll stick with it. I'd personally opt for Korean, just because it will differentiate you more in life. Learning a new writing system might be fun, too.

[The Reaper]

Originally Posted by NousDefionsDoc

Phrench is spoken in Algeria, Syria - where else AL?

Common among older people in former French colonies in SE Asia and Africa.

TR

[Airbornelawyer]

I agree that Korean is far too difficult a language for a summer program to have much value. It is also pretty much only useful in Korea.

If I had to subjectively rank languages based on their utility, taking into account (i) the total number of speakers, (ii) the distribution of speakers, (iii) the relative difficulty of the language for a native English speaker, and (iv) the second-language ability of speakers of the foreign language, I would prioritze the top languages to learn as follows:

1. Spanish
2. French
3. Arabic
4. Portuguese
5. Chinese
6. Russian

How these subjective criteria work may be seen with German. There are about as many speakers of German as there are of French, but they are overwhelmingly found in just three countries - Germany, Austria and Switzerland - and English as a second language is fairly common. Also, the German-speaking countries are no longer as strategically significant to the US as they were before 1989.

Dutch is in a similar boat. English-language ability is even more common among the Dutch than among Germans. Joint German-Dutch military units even use English for command and control purposes. Dutch never took root in the Netherlands' former colonies the way French and English did in France's and Britain's colonial empires.

As for the languages I listed:

1. Spanish has the 3rd or 4th largest number of speakers in the world. It is spoken in a large number of countries, but except for Spain these are geographically limited to a particular region of the world. However, that region is of great strategic importance to the United States.

2. French is somewhere around 10th or so in total number of speakers, but is second only to English in the number of countries where it is spoken. Outside of Western Europe and Canada, though, most of these French-speaking countries are in Africa. Generally, they are not of great strategic importance to the US, though several, including some where French is a major second language like Algeria, are of growing importance. French like English functions as one of the world's more important second languages for speakers of another language, so it is also helpful as a bridge (e.g., in Algeria or Lebanon, where there are few English speakers and where we may be short of Arabic speakers).

3. Arabic, of course, is currently one of the most important languages for the US, given the war in Iraq and our other interests in the Arab world (not just GWOT-related). Arabic, however, is a very difficult language to learn and its many dialects complicate its usefulness (what you learn at DLI might be minimally useful in Iraq and may get you stared at blankly in Algeria or Egypt).

4. Portuguese ranks about 6th or 7th on the list of total number of speakers. Its main utility is limited to a few countries, but at least one of these, Brazil, may prove to be of growing relevance. It is also spoken in several former Portuguese colonies in Africa and Asia. Portuguese is also sufficiently similar to Spanish that learning one may help you transition later to learning the other.

5. Mandarin Chinese has the most speakers of any language in the world, and the People's Republic of China is, needless to say, strategically significant. Mandarin is a fairly difficult language to learn.

6. Russian is not nearly as important as it was during the Cold War, but it does retain some importance. It is also useful in the non-Russian former republics of the USSR, especially among the older generations.

[Airbornelawyer]

French is a major second language in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Lebanon and Syria. It is also spoken by quite a few people in former French Indochina - Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia - but fewer over time. French is an official language in Haiti, but most Haitians speak Creole. The US military is increasingly active in several countries in Francophone Africa, notably Mauritania, Chad, Senegal and Djibouti. Many Romanians speak French, and Romania is increasingly becoming one of our most reliable allies.

We also often participate in multinational coalitions with French-speaking troops, so French is sometimes useful in deployments to non-Francophone countries such as Bosnia and Afghanistan.

This latter point applies to Spanish, too, to some extent. Troops from Spain and several Central American countries served in Iraq and Spanish troops are still in Afghanistan. Several South American countries have sent troops on UN and other multinational missions such as the MFO.

[mfos2]

Thanks guys,

From what you guys are saying it looks like I will sign up for the spanish class. I can already order a beer and a girl in spanish After the class maybe I can find out where the bathroom and the medic are located!

But seriously, I appreciate the response. I know that IF I can get in the army and IF I can get past SFAS and the Q then I would go to language school. I figure that since all I have to do with my time is PT, studying, and taking care of the little woman, I might as well learn something that would be valuble to me if I am able to get into Special Forces.

It looks like Spanish is the way most of you would go. Do you think it would be more hardship than it's worth to take both Spanish and French together or would you guys go one at a time?

Thanks
Mike

[bberkley]

As a related side note, you can consider learning French if you have an interest in Early American government and diplomatic correspondence should you take up the study of American History in College.

[jatx]

If you have time for a second language, you are not studying the first with enough intensity. Do not be limited by slacker classmates, humble them with your intensity. They will work for you someday.

[The Reaper]

1. If you learn Spanish and test with the Army at a usable proficiency level, you may increase your odds of going to 7th Group. That is a good thing.

2. How many languages are you proficient at now? Have you taken language training before? Do you think learning them is that easy? You forget the 25 meter target again?

3. Have you already planned what to do when you are King of the World?

TR

[Airbornelawyer]

Originally Posted by The Reaper

1. If you learn Spanish and test with the Army at a usable proficiency level, you may increase your odds of going to 7th Group. That is a good thing.

If you learn French and test with the Army at a usable proficiency level, you may increase your odds of going to 3rd Group. Is that is a good thing? Can we start an internecine squabble?

When I was with 11th Group, I wrote a series of pocket language handbooks for Turkish, Kurdish and Iraqi Arabic for our ODAs supporting Provide Comfort II. 11th Group's primary languages were German and Russian at the time.