Help!! :(

[nathanuk88]

Hello!

Im in a bit of a prediciment. I'm English and im currently study my a-levels.

I want to go to university and study languages. I know i definately want to do Russian but im not sure about the other language. I currently do French so i could carry that on but Chinese REALLY interests me (french does too, dont get me wrong.).

I did chinese for a bit but didnt have time to do the whole GCSE Course.

So now im thinking should i go to university and do French and Russian then do modules in chinese or should i go and do Russian and Chinese.

Anyone got any suggestions? (preferably non biased!) lol

Thanks

[Weronika]

I think the decision is yours but I (!) would choose the French - Russian version, and after Chinese.

[Lu]

I'd not recommend studying Chinese and Russian at the same time, as both are very difficult languages that are very different from English. You'll need a lot of time and energy to study only one of these with any success, let alone both at the same time. French on the other hand is much closer to English (esp the vocabulary). However much I like Chinese, if you have already decided to definately study Russian, I think you'd better take French with it and not Chinese.

[mr.stinky]

yeah, the decision is yours. why are you studying languages? is there a point? do you

have any interest in russia or china or any other country? do you plan to use the

languages you study, or are you just 'doing' them for a grade?

[nathanuk88]

no i love languages. i just do. after my degree i want to do Law (unless any other career options come up). I understand your point about them being difficult to study together, however i will have an A Level in Russian and i don't think you would find them difficult becuase they are so difference, so there no way your brain can mix them up? I just think that because China is said to be the next booming economy, learning the language will be a great benefit as apposed to French, which is a language wich lots of people speak already.

[cui ruide]

Russian and Chinese at the same time is hard not because of the risk of mixing the two up, but because of the time a native English speaker must devote to learn the language. I think in the US they're both considered 'Class IV' languages which means they take a native English speaker 3 times as long to learn as English (but I might be mixing that up with something..?).

In my experience in studying Chinese, you must have something that really drives you to learn the language; you must find something inspiring about the language or the culture that keeps you going because it's a long struggle.

[Roee]

By the time you master Mandarin you could have learned two or three other western languages. Considering the current Mandarin hype and and global trend towards learning it, in a few years it might not be worth that much.

[gato]

Yes, Nathan. You need to budget at least 1000 hour a year (averaging 3 hours per day) for at least four years if you are serious about learning Chinese. Anything less is not going to do it unless maybe you come from a Chinese-speaking family. One reason why those come to China to study improve so quickly is that they are forced to spend that much time every day studying Chinese as a result of being immersed in an all-Chinese environment.

[kudra]

I think in the US they're both considered 'Class IV' languages which means they take a native English speaker 3 times as long to learn as English (but I might be mixing that up with something..?).

Here is a table comparing time of study to some standard level of mastery[the associated definition of which you can find in some thread if you search intelligently]. Russian is supposedly "easier" than Mandarin, but it probably depends on the individual. Gender, cases, tenses and all the endings drive me nuts, so I might find Russian harder.

http://www-personal.umich.edu/%7Ewbaxter/howhard.html

[girlwonder]

Hey Nathan - I was in a predicament not unlike yours when I was doing my A-Levels. I'm Korean, but I've lived abroad for most of my life. My mother tongue is Korean but I speak English like a native. During school, I learnt French - up to A-Level, and Spanish - up to GCSE level.

When I got to applying to universities, I was like.. oh crap, what the hell do I do now? But basically I knew that I wanted to get one of my languages completely fluent - and I chose that language to be French because I was pretty advanced at it anyway. So now I'm doing BA French and Philosophy.

I personally think taking up two completely new languages at university level is ..extremely difficult. I know friends who have taken up a language they already know and another language (as a double major, like you're considering) like French and Italian. And they find that they get very confused, there's a LOT more work involved, and it's just.. really very difficult. I also have friends who knew a bit about the language before they studied it at uni - and they found it hard, but not AS difficult as a complete beginner.

Do whatever you want to do - but bear in mind how much work it is going to require. If you know a bit of one of the languages, it may take the burden off your shoulder. Also, think about the Year Abroad that you will have as a part of your degree - do you want to spend a whole year in one country or do you want to split that time into two countries? If you do a Single Honours course, you will spend one year in the said country and improve your language skills dramatically - if you do a Joint Honours, I know friends who said they didn't get enough time to improve their languages in EITHER country.

Also consider taking a gap year (if you can) and doing a separate course. I took a gap year after my A-Levels to do an intensive Mandarin course at SOAS in London. I found that to be really helpful, really enjoyable and.. a much better learning experience than taking a random module here and there through the first year of uni (since there are so many other things to be done during the first year of uni!!)

To the person who said that learning Chinese is a "hype" and that "it may not be worth it" in a couple years, I would think that you'll be very wrong.. China's an emerging market in every aspect in terms of tourism, economy, politics, etc and I think being able to speak Chinese will be VERY useful in the future. After all, there are more Chinese speakers in the world than Spanish OR English. And yes yes, everyone already speaks English but I find that it's generally.. more polite and people feel more comfortable speaking in their own language, so doing business with Chinese people + being able to speak Chinese = awesome.

Also - to the person who said "is there any point in doing languages" - same as above. I find that being able to go abroad and being able to communicate to people in their own language makes me feel more involved in their culture and their way of life. Unlike the American tourists that I came across in Normandy, France saying "Scusi" whilst squeezing past people in the train. This is FRANCE, not Italy you nincompoops. Haha.

Anyway, Nathan - if you have any questions about anything, PM me! (wow that was the longest post ever)

[nathanuk88]

hmm i understand what you're saying. The thing is i think well if there are lots of courses at uni offering begginers chinese then surely people must be able to do it.

The basic degree course for chinese and russian is 4 years. You have lectures, seminars and tutorials. In year 3 you go abroad (6 months russia, 6 chinese).

I dont think you can ever master a language until you spend time living in the country for numerous years. The idea of doing a degree in chinese really appeals to me! meh desisions Im never good at them - im libra! lol

Ooo forgot to put, looked on that list thing. They put Afrikaans as an easy language? I would definately NOT agree with that. Afrikaans has many clicks in voices, it is totally alien to european languages. just thought id add that in!

[johnd]

I thing you're mixing up Afrikaans - which is related to Dutch - with one of the indigenous languages of southern Africa. Can't remember which one though!

[kudra]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Click_consonants

Clicks occur in all the Khoisan languages of southern Africa, and in several neighbouring Bantu languages, such as Nguni (Zulu, Xhosa, Swazi, and Ndebele), Sesotho, Yeyi of Botswana, and the Mbukushu, Kwangali, and Gciriku languages of the Caprivi Strip, which borrowed them from Khoisan languages. Clicks also occur in Sandawe and Hadza, two languages of Tanzania traditionally classified as Khoisan, as well as in Dahalo, a nearby endangered South Cushitic language of Kenya, which may retain them from an episode of language shift.