Langauge Options

[Sojourner]

Latin is my recommendation for academic reasons.

For practicality, I'd recommend Spanish. I could speak Spanish every day if I chose to.

[homeschoolmom]

Yo tambien, pero nadie me entendiera...

[Theoketos]

Latin is best.

[jgirl]

My vote is for French because as a French grad student, I have to vote that way! Anyway, it's way easier than Latin. Once you figure out the pronunciation, you're money (because it follows all kinds of patterns). Not to mention, a lot of the world speaks French. At the Olympics, they always announce in English, the language of the country where they are, and French. Also, [i]beaucoup de gens[/i] in Africa speak French!

[aloha918]

german is so barbaric

Frnch is kinda weak.....

Latin would be cool if you go to Latin mass....but i wouldn't really besides that

Greek is cool.......just because it is greek.....and everything greek is cool......even though it almost looks and sounds like "geek"

Edited January 26, 2005 by aloha918

[spathariossa]

Latin is the most difficult language up there. I also found it more difficult than Chinese, Japanese, or Korean.

German is a beautiful language, from the same family tree as English, and is wonderfully interesting. Everyone says it sounds barbaric but it doesn't when spoken properly. That's just a stereotype. Besides, if I could choose between being a forest dwelling, beer-swilling, germanic warrior, and a Roman, I know which I'd pick.

[JazzforJesus]

Im a latin freak.... it stalks me.... here is a poem written by my dad for all you latin students



Latin is a dead language
dead as can be
It killed off all the Romans
Now its killing me


I love latin i swear... im actually not taking latin right now but it is still with me i translate and all that stuff

[argent_paladin]

As someone who has studied all of those languages (and I need them for my work), I will put in my two cents:

1. Latin- Advantages: Don't need to learn how to speak, listen or write. Helpful for learning Spanish, Italian or French. Official language of the Church. Opens up a lot of fantastic primary texts (most scholarly works from 100-1500 were written in Latin).
Disadvantages: Doesn't help much in traveling (but you can use it to decipher inscriptions in Rome) Not much current stuff in Latin.
Summary: Latin is great for Church history, medieval studies, theology, philosophy, etc. I would say it is the easiest because the expectations are lower. Many are fluent/native in German or French, almost none in Latin. Using a dictionary is not looked down on. Plus there are many good text books.

2. German- Advantages: Close relative to English with many congnates. Also has many compound words so learning vocabulary is simpler. Grammar is easier than the other three languages because it is closer to English grammar (except the verb). Pronunciation is fairly regular. You can visit Germany (WYD!!) which is a great country.
Disadvantages- Often long and complex sentence structure. Some sounds are unfamiliar to American ears and mouths. Sticklers for grammar and spelling.
Summary: Useful for literature, engineering, archaeology, theology, philosophy, etc.

3. French- Advantages: I admit, I have some prejudices against this language.
Disadvantages: Difficult phonology.
Summary: Lit, archaeology, philosophy, art, etc

4. Greek- I like Greek the most but it is definitely the hardest. First because it has a whole different alphabet which will slow you down for a year. Also the grammar is complex and different from latin or french or german. It has similar advantages to Latin in that it is dead so you don't have to speak it, hear it or write it. You can also read the New Testament, which is a huge bonus for any Christian. And it opens up many of the Fathers of the Church, greek philosophers, etc. This is the language I am working on now.

Basically, it all depends on what you are studying. Talk to a couple of professors and ask them what they think. If it doesn't matter which, go for Latin, which, in my opinion, is the best first language to learn (it was my first) because it has been taught text-book-style for thousands of years and when you learn latin, it will be easier to learn many other languages. Plus when people hear you know latin, they will automatically think that you are a conservative catholic. Not bad!

[foundsheep]

Flowery or Tina can teach Border brother spanglish.

[Cam42]

Vos perceptum latinae. Est substructio pro plurimus lingua obvius occasus universitas.

You should take Latin, it is the basis for most languages in the Western world. If you grasp Latin, you can more or less get through English, Spanish, French, Italian, and Portugeuse. If you understand Latin, you are in a better place.

Cam42