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Which would you pick, and why?

abijnk

abijnk

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Oct 15, 2007
3,287
5
Los Angeles, CA
I am a college student and have an extra class to fill in next semester so I can remain with full time status. So, I have decided that I want to take a foreign language course. I have a few options:

Spanish
German
Ancient Greek

Since I don't have a true need for being able to speak another language the choice has been a difficult one, and since taking all three isn't realistic, I thought I would reach into the infinite wisdom that is macrumors and see what you all thought on the subject. Which would you pick? And why?
 
I would pick Spanish; it's spoken by millions of people all over the world. Or if I was interested in history, I might do Greek.
 
Well Spanish is clearly the most useful, seeing as >5% of the world's population speak it, but German would be (is) my choice. It's really easy to grasp and it's great fun too.

Greek...i don't know. No experience there.

Blue Velvet said:
I would pick Spanish; it's spoken by millions of people all over the world. Or if I was interested in history, I might do Greek.
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Surely that would be Ancient Greek?
 
My immediate thought would be that Spanish is the most widely spoken of those three languages in the States (and is widely spoken around the world too), so picking that one might be useful.

What are you studying for your main course though – might knowledge of Greek or German be of some benefit to your study?
 
Jaffa Cake said:
My immediate thought would be that Spanish is the most widely spoken of those three languages in the States (and is widely spoken around the world too), so picking that one might be useful.

What are you studying for your main course though – might knowledge of Greek or German be of some benefit to your study?
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I'm a computer science major, and will be working in the aerospace industry. So, I guess its more for my own enjoyment really.
 
If you don't have a need with your major to take one of the othber ones take spanish since a lot of people in the US speak it, so it would be the most useful of any of them.
 
Much Ado said:
Surely that would be Ancient Greek?
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That wasn't an option; don't split hairs. :D

As for German being easy, you've just got to love all those compounding nouns.

Gesundheitswiederherstellungszusammenmischungsverhaeltniskundiger...
 
I picked German as a foreign language myself, while its considered an easy language, the German grammar is hard to master.
are these your only options, i think Italian is a wonderful language its really poetic ;)
 
abiyng87 said:
Yeah, it is Ancient Greek. I guess I could have specified that. :) My school offers a "classics" degree and it is from that department...
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Ah... well that makes it much more interesting ;)

Sensible option: Spanish
Fun option: German
Romantic option: Ancient Greek

I also know Latin, and with German it gives a good insight into how the modern English language was formed, and what its roots are. 'Old English' and 'Old German' are surprisingly similar.
 
Hmm Aerospace industry... I'm thinking the Germans are pretty good at that? (They're good at cars anyway), so maybe there's a case for being able to speak their language as part of a future career.

I'm biased though, I studied German myself (forgotten most of it unfortunately), really enjoyed it. Neutrally, Spanish seems an excellent option because it's the most widely spoken of those (AFAIK). Greek doesn't seem an appealing option unless you're into history or something.
 
Cloudane said:
Greek doesn't seem an appealing option unless you're into history or something.
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Nonsense, Greek plays a major part in aerospace: astronaut, cosmonaut, aeronautical, astronomy, gyroscope, cybernetics, astrophysics - think of all those Greek words without which you could hardly study the subject. ;)
 
I would pick one that will come into use to where you live....I would pick spanish because its something I would use everyday to communicate with people around my way.


German sounds very interesting aswell.



Bless
 
If you're going to do business I'd do Chinese, but seeing as how that's not an option I'd probably chose Greek or Spanish. Greek because it has influenced much of modern language, and Spanish because it's practical and may make it easier to pick up other Latin-based languages.
 
I would pick a really easy elective. Something that will help the GPA. I had fun taking ballroom dancing with all the honeys!
 
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