Which foreign language would be the best one to learn out of these two?

Here's my predicament: My college requires a year of foreign language classes for everyone (even those of us getting a BS). Originally I signed up for Spanish because I took two years of it in high school, I still remember a lot of it, it's easy, and it's the most widely spoken language after English (especially in the US). However, now I'm thinking of taking the harder route and taking Japanese instead. It just seems more interesting (I find all the Romantic languages to be very dry and boring) plus I've always wanted to learn one of the major Asian languages (Korean, Chinese, Japanese).

But here's where the choice gets tougher. I'm a neuroscience major and I have to take calculus and intro to neuroscience (supposedly the 2nd hardest course at my university which is saying a lot) this semester. I also have to take a foreign language this year because I'm running out of time. All the language classes at my university eat up ridiculous amounts of time so no matter what I choose I'm going to hate my academic life until December. However, Spanish would be the easier language since I feel confident enough in my ability to get through a Spanish 101 course without too much effort, which would allow me to at least slack off somewhat in that class so I could concentrate more on the GPA killers.

So, what do you guys think? Should I stick with Spanish even though I find it boring or should I opt for a language I'm more interested in even it means potentially frying my brain with stress? I'm thinking that I'll probably try study both at the same time regardless, it's just that one would be formal education whereas the other would be a spare-time, when-I'm-in-the-mood sort of deal.

And for the record I'm not wanting to learn Japanese because "I want 2 watch my animez without teh subtitlez!1". I geniunely find it interesting simply because it's so different from any of the western languages. The only other languages I'm interested in learning are German (coolest sounding language ever), Russian (also very cool), and Korean (because all my friends speak it and I want to know what they're saying behind my back damnit).

Here's my predicament: My college requires a year of foreign language classes for everyone (even those of us getting a BS). Originally I signed up for Spanish because I took two years of it in high school, I still remember a lot of it, it's easy, and it's the most widely spoken language after English (especially in the US). However, now I'm thinking of taking the harder route and taking Japanese instead. It just seems more interesting (I find all the Romantic languages to be very dry and boring) plus I've always wanted to learn one of the major Asian languages (Korean, Chinese, Japanese).

But here's where the choice gets tougher. I'm a neuroscience major and I have to take calculus and intro to neuroscience (supposedly the 2nd hardest course at my university which is saying a lot) this semester. I also have to take a foreign language this year because I'm running out of time. All the language classes at my university eat up ridiculous amounts of time so no matter what I choose I'm going to hate my academic life until December. However, Spanish would be the easier language since I feel confident enough in my ability to get through a Spanish 101 course without too much effort, which would allow me to at least slack off somewhat in that class so I could concentrate more on the GPA killers.

So, what do you guys think? Should I stick with Spanish even though I find it boring or should I opt for a language I'm more interested in even it means potentially frying my brain with stress? I'm thinking that I'll probably try study both at the same time regardless, it's just that one would be formal education whereas the other would be a spare-time, when-I'm-in-the-mood sort of deal.

And for the record I'm not wanting to learn Japanese because "I want 2 watch my animez without teh subtitlez!1". I geniunely find it interesting simply because it's so different from any of the western languages. The only other languages I'm interested in learning are German (coolest sounding language ever), Russian (also very cool), and Korean (because all my friends speak it and I want to know what they're saying behind my back damnit).

gameguy6700

Probably the most beneficial will be Spanish, plus it's already going to be easier for you.

After Spanish I'd probably pick German since it's a cool language and a couple of my buddies speak it fluently. I took Japanese in college, and it's damned hard, so be prepared if you go that route. I kind of don't like Japanese at all after taking it.

learn korean. korean chicks are fine!!!!!!!lonewolf604

Take it from me: doing something you enjoy is much less stressful than doing something boring.

I just took a look at my schedule and the times for all the language classes. The Spanish class I'm currently signed up for has horrible times, a fact which I only just now noticed (normally they'd be great times since it's in the afternoon, but I have to do research full time while in college and thus I need my afternoons as free as posssible). Japanese fits great, as does German and Russian. Korean I'm not even going to bother looking into since I don't see myself having too much interaction with Koreans or Korean culture after I get out of undergrad. There are other Spanish classes offered but they're all filled up and the chances of the ones with the times I need opening up are slim (unless I get lucky and find someone willing to swap class sections).

So right now it looks like my best three options are German, Russian, and Japanese. Russian I think I'll hold off on since it's pretty different from English and requires learning a new alphabet (if I'm going to go through that much trouble I'll just do Japanese). So that leaves German and Japanese I guess. Interestingly it turns out that the German classes are only 50 minutes each day whereas the Japanese classes are 75 minutes each day so that's a plus for German.

BTW, I've heard that German and English have very similar grammar, is this true?

seems to me you've answered your own question - if it's a shorter class, German wins!

JPN, you will get the best of everything.

Spanish or Japanese, mate!;)

It really just depends where you live. Like I took a Spanish because I live in Texas and it would be ideal for me to learn because of all the mexicans that live here. If I took German or Japanese, I'd have no use for it.

Wow if I am not mistaken school is starting in a few weeks am I correct?

I would say if you are studying something that interested you, you will do well. I don't know how much more until you will graduate and if you are going to double major or even minor in the language you are thinking of taking, but a general rule of thumb is I wouldn't take a language class (especially one that you are sure will take up lots of your time) and the core-classes of your major together, unless you are ready to take on the load and kiss GS goodbye til December...

Good luck with your schooling

think German and Russian would be interesting

" In Mother Russia language speak you!"

But personally I wan to learn Dutch cuzI know a girl that lives in Holland.

If I had to choose between the two, it would be Spanish, easily.

Here are the reasons (some of them at least).

There are about 3 times as many Spanish speakers as there are speakers of Japanese (as a side note, English does not have the most speakers of any language, that would be Mandarin). There are 25 countries whos official language is Spanish. 25 countries that you can travel to and whos people you can speak with, as opposed to 1 with Japanese.

Spanish is many times more simple to pick up than Japanese. Spanish is rated as the second easiest language to learn after Esperanto and other artificial languages. Japanese is rated as the second or third hardest.

Spanish sounds much sexier.

Spanish uses the Latin alphabet, you won't have to learn a completely new system of writing (and an extremely difficult and complex one at that).

Spanish is completely phonetic (words sound exactly the way they look).

If you learn Spanish, other Romance languages can be picked up extremely quickly.

If you do not speak Japanese well, or speak with a strong accent. Many Japanese will have the attitude that if you can't speak it extremely well, you shouldn't speak it at all. You may find that they switch over to their own broken english, even if it's worse than your Japanese.

I think that Spanish speaking countries will be much friendlier in general.

25 countries whose cultures, cuisines, artchitecutre, and histories you can explore. Though this is a little more opinianated, perhaps they don't appeal to you as much as Japanese culture does.

Having said all that, the best language to learn is the one that you're most interested in. If you're not interested in Spanish, it will be a chore to learn (despite being significantly easier than Japanese.)

I've given you what I perceive to be the negatives (I'm sure that I've forgotten a few :P ) but at the end of the day, you should pick the language that you will enjoy learning the most.

(as a side note, English does not have the most speakers of any language, that would be Mandarin)RearNakedChoke

Take it from me: doing something you enjoy is much less stressful than doing something boring.

GabuEx

Stick with Spanish, that way you can get a higher GPA in your other majors. Plus, you save yourself the stress (of learning a whole new language), which keeps you from potentially going crazy lol.

[QUOTE="RearNakedChoke"](as a side note, English does not have the most speakers of any language, that would be Mandarin)Memberino

Depends on your definition of widely spoken. There are more Spanish, French, and Arabic speaking countries than there are English speaking countries.

BTW, I've heard that German and English have very similar grammar, is this true?

gameguy6700

Yes, this is definitely true. German and English are effectively siblings, in that it is believed they evolved out of the same parent language. They're both Germanic languages.

Yo hablo español. Era muy útil en mi antiguo trabajo

Do Japanese, no point in doing something if you don't find it fun.. Anyways, if you care, you can play a lot more games when you do know it. ;)

[QUOTE="gameguy6700"]

BTW, I've heard that German and English have very similar grammar, is this true?

GabuEx

Yes, this is definitely true. German and English are effectively siblings, in that it is believed they evolved out of the same parent language. They're both Germanic languages.

From a learning point of view (I learned German for 6 years), there are very few effective similarities between our two languages either in terms of grammar or vocabulary.

[QUOTE="RearNakedChoke"](as a side note, English does not have the most speakers of any language, that would be Mandarin)Memberino

Depends on your definition of widely spoken. There are more Spanish, French, and Arabic speaking countries than there are English speaking countries.

Alright, you want to learn Japanese but are worried that it will suck up too much of your time because you're a neuroscience major. My advice is to learn whichever language you're most interested in. If you're doing something you love, it won't seem like work at all, so do what you want and learn Japanese. I suggest buying Rosetta Stone to help you get by. It's computer software that teaches over like 25 different languages, including: Japanese, German, and Russian. It seems like one of the best ways to learn a new language and certainly a lot more fun than translating text from a boring old text book. It is costly, around a few hundred bucks, but it seems worth it. You basically buy the software for the specific language you want to learn, all 25+ don't come bundled together lol. Take a look at their website as well as some reviews and decide for yourself whether it's a good idea to get. Japanese also sounds more beneficial to learn than spanish just because of the fact that you're going into the field of medicine. Chinese may even be a good language to learn because of that, you could work over seas with great medical companies. You will have a wider variety of job opportunities if you can speak more than one language.

every year a million mexican people sneak into america and im guessing u live in america so the right choice is spanish bra it will be more useful

Learn Arabic:D

If you're only taking one year of it, you will not make enough progress in Japanese to understand anything beyond the most basic "my name is...., one-two-three" kinds of things....

WoOt kHaf yOo Shay ??? "deep german accent"