I thought of this as a post on another thread, but as it got big I thought it could have a thread of its own.
I want an opinion from you guys concerning some choices I'm about to make.
I have some extra credits to spend at uni and I am in doubt which language I should pick up, starting next semester. I'm between French, Spanish and German.
I tried starting French over at uni a while ago, but the classes (3 a week!) were really demanding and I was at a bad moment (break up, starting to learn game for good, starting a very demanding job at a mental health clinic) and I couldn't keep it up. But now I am considering it again.
...
Pros for learning French:
-I have a fancy for French culture as a whole and their ladies, and I really want to visit Quebéc, Canada. I have fellow friends from Brazil who moved to Montreal and are loving the life there. Who knows as a possible long term project trying to do that myself?
-France is one of my favourite countries in the world.
-Academic wise, in my field of study, French is a good language to learn.
Cons for learning French:
-I can tell the classes there are really demanding. Not sure if I have time available, as my side projects tend to increase, maybe to the point they are more than side projects.
-French seems to be diminishing as a language group. Much use?
...
Spanish seems to be a good option as well. There are less classes in the week (2) and as I'm a native Portuguese speaker, I'd learn it in a flash.
Pros for learning Spanish:
-I'd pick it up real fast and it is less demanding for me, meaning less hours of study.
-I am very enthusiastic about my South American extended background, yet I do poorly on the language of my good neighbours over here. And I ought to explore more this wonderful continent.
Cons for learning Spanish:
-I'm not "crazy" about Latin women. I like them alright, but to me, as I'm from the culture, they aren't that exotic.
-I wonder if I could just pick it up as I go on a possible extended South American trip in the future.
...
The other language I'm considering is German. Yes. I already had German lessons for 2 years, but that was 5 years ago. On my last trip to Hawaii, I made tons and tons of Germanic friends (Germany, Austria, Switzerland) and I have places to crash all over those countries. Although it is not an easy language, I have some minimum background already, and I was always complimented on my accent. Apparently I have a good accent for Germanic languages in general.
Pros for learning German:
-I already have some familiarity with the language
-I have plenty of travelling options over German-speaking countries.
-It also a good language to learn in my field of study.
Cons for learning German:
-Difficult to achieve fluency
-Not a big language group outside Europe
-Did I mention it is difficult?
...
This is a project for the next one and a half years. I'm thinking that I should pick just one and do my best at it. Or not?
What really bothers me is that my tendency is to have a shitload of other stuff to do the following period of my life. Final paper, working, doing a few specializations in areas of my field (psycotherapy) and, especially so, investing on my artistic side- I'll carry on my music career and I want to start writing.
And have time to travel.
Yikes.
Thus the doubt: those, added to Japanese which is a very very distant project, are all languages I want to learn this lifetime. But I have trouble prioritizing and focusing and what nots.
Any ideas, guys? I'll be having some time to think this through...
I want an opinion from you guys concerning some choices I'm about to make.
I have some extra credits to spend at uni and I am in doubt which language I should pick up, starting next semester. I'm between French, Spanish and German.
I tried starting French over at uni a while ago, but the classes (3 a week!) were really demanding and I was at a bad moment (break up, starting to learn game for good, starting a very demanding job at a mental health clinic) and I couldn't keep it up. But now I am considering it again.
...
Pros for learning French:
-I have a fancy for French culture as a whole and their ladies, and I really want to visit Quebéc, Canada. I have fellow friends from Brazil who moved to Montreal and are loving the life there. Who knows as a possible long term project trying to do that myself?
-France is one of my favourite countries in the world.
-Academic wise, in my field of study, French is a good language to learn.
Cons for learning French:
-I can tell the classes there are really demanding. Not sure if I have time available, as my side projects tend to increase, maybe to the point they are more than side projects.
-French seems to be diminishing as a language group. Much use?
...
Spanish seems to be a good option as well. There are less classes in the week (2) and as I'm a native Portuguese speaker, I'd learn it in a flash.
Pros for learning Spanish:
-I'd pick it up real fast and it is less demanding for me, meaning less hours of study.
-I am very enthusiastic about my South American extended background, yet I do poorly on the language of my good neighbours over here. And I ought to explore more this wonderful continent.
Cons for learning Spanish:
-I'm not "crazy" about Latin women. I like them alright, but to me, as I'm from the culture, they aren't that exotic.
-I wonder if I could just pick it up as I go on a possible extended South American trip in the future.
...
The other language I'm considering is German. Yes. I already had German lessons for 2 years, but that was 5 years ago. On my last trip to Hawaii, I made tons and tons of Germanic friends (Germany, Austria, Switzerland) and I have places to crash all over those countries. Although it is not an easy language, I have some minimum background already, and I was always complimented on my accent. Apparently I have a good accent for Germanic languages in general.
Pros for learning German:
-I already have some familiarity with the language
-I have plenty of travelling options over German-speaking countries.
-It also a good language to learn in my field of study.
Cons for learning German:
-Difficult to achieve fluency
-Not a big language group outside Europe
-Did I mention it is difficult?
...
This is a project for the next one and a half years. I'm thinking that I should pick just one and do my best at it. Or not?
What really bothers me is that my tendency is to have a shitload of other stuff to do the following period of my life. Final paper, working, doing a few specializations in areas of my field (psycotherapy) and, especially so, investing on my artistic side- I'll carry on my music career and I want to start writing.
And have time to travel.
Yikes.
Thus the doubt: those, added to Japanese which is a very very distant project, are all languages I want to learn this lifetime. But I have trouble prioritizing and focusing and what nots.
Any ideas, guys? I'll be having some time to think this through...