French or Spanish...HELP!!!

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  • dakitten2
    dakitten2 Posts: 888 Member
    I took French and Latin at the same time in High School. Is there any way you can take both classes? Not sure where you live but in the USA you would probably benefit more with the Spanish. I dont know if you guys still have "Study Hall" in high school, but I always thought that was a big waste of time and always took an extra class every year. Good luck with whatever you decide.
  • Rinkermann
    Rinkermann Posts: 108 Member
    based on what you've said, and my own personal experiences:

    1. you've started with french, so you have the ground work done.
    2. you say you enjoy it, so you'll be more likely to stick at it through the tough bits.
    3. you like your teacher, and a good teacher is worth his/her weight in gold.
    4. if you switch, you run the risk of not learning either language fully.

    it's worth remembering that once you learn one language thoroughly, learning another languages from the same family becomes much easier, ie most european languages have many similarities. you can always move on to spanish later.
  • CameoDouglas
    CameoDouglas Posts: 78 Member
    I`m currently taking both when school starts. Spanish is very similar to French I hear, just easier. I suggest you stick with what you started with. It also depends on where you live. I live in Canada and our second language is French and Quebec is right next door to me so it would be much more useful for me. Especially job wise.
  • scs143
    scs143 Posts: 2,190 Member
    Stick with French and get off of MFP. Go to sparkteens.com; it's more appropriate.
    haha this^

    My thoughts exactly.
  • LaMujerMasBonitaDelMundo
    LaMujerMasBonitaDelMundo Posts: 3,634 Member
    I suggest to stick with French especially that since you enjoyed it very much & then just study Spanish later. You can always learn both languages. French & Spanish are both belong to the same language family & have some similar words in vocabulary.

    I don't know if its just me since I speak Spanish but I think learning Spanish is a lot easier than French especially in word pronounciation. So if you happen to learn French then you won't be having a difficult time studying Spanish.
  • lizzyc357
    lizzyc357 Posts: 22 Member
    I took both French (high school) and Spanish (college) and I vote Spanish. They're similar languages but Spanish is more practical to know nowadays.
  • velasdream
    velasdream Posts: 17
    Just my two cents...think about where you live and what your future job may be. I live in California. I studied Spanish because it was a necessity. The Hispanic population outnumbers the Caucasian population, everything is labeled in English and Spanish, and you hear it spoken every time you turn around. I have never heard French spoken with the exception of meeting tourists. Here, being fluent in Spanish makes you a highly desirable employee. That said, maybe French is more common where you live. Then it would be more useful to continue in French. I also think Spanish may be easier for you to learn with your French speaking background. (But I only know Spanish and not Frenchy so I can't say for sure :-) This is just me, but it would be AWESOME to be able to say you are trilingual!! Learn as many languages as you can and as young as you can. The older you get, the harder it is to learn a new language! Best of luck in whatever you choose!
  • AReasor
    AReasor Posts: 355 Member
    It depends on what will help you most later in life. Also location, I live in NH so french is more handy. Our immigrant population is from various African nations(some speak french) and Nepal.
  • Firephoenix013
    Firephoenix013 Posts: 214
    Spanish. But it depends on what you would like to do etc later on in life. Plus french is pretty much french, spanish, there are different types of spanish. The spanish spoken in puerto rico is not the same as the spanish spoken in mexico. It's VERY hard to learn. I took French in high school, switched to Spanish in college as they did not offer French where I went and failed miserably at it. I wish I would have taken Spanish.
  • Artemis726
    Artemis726 Posts: 587 Member
    I vote for Spanish if you live in the US. So many job opportunities will be open to you and it's very attractive on a resume. Both French and Spanish are romance languages derived from Latin, so I imagine you'll find some similarities with root words.
  • childofArtemis24
    childofArtemis24 Posts: 334
    I had French! And I loved it! But there are a lot of Mexicans in our town..so Some ppl around here know Spanish. I look at it this way. This is America, they foreign ppl need to learn our language. If I was to go to another country I would learn their language. If you know Spanish then there is more job opportunities . Most of my friends who graduated college don't even use their Spanish skills. So it is really up to you.
  • BlueJean4114
    BlueJean4114 Posts: 594 Member
    I had French! And I loved it! But there are a lot of Mexicans in our town..so Some ppl around here know Spanish. I look at it this way. This is America, they foreign ppl need to learn our language. If I was to go to another country I would learn their language. If you know Spanish then there is more job opportunities . Most of my friends who graduated college don't even use their Spanish skills. So it is really up to you.

    Ah, i admire the courage it takes,
    for these ppl to escape whatever horrors they were facing, to give their children a chance at a better life. Many of these ppl were facing rampant violence from a corrupt police force and drug lords, kidnapping is far more common in other countries, as well as poverty and actual starvation. Some immigrants come here to escape political oppression and traumas you can not even imagine.
    What wouldn't YOU do, to give YOUR kids a chance at a better, safer world?

    Could you bravely face discrimination they way many of them do, or could you deal with those who look down their nose, cuz you have not yet mastered their language, just to help out your children?

    Many to most immigrants DO learn the language,
    but, like you, probably prefer to speak in their native tongue. Especially for banking, medical advice, etc.
    Don't throw a stone til you have walked a mile in their shoes.
    It is just too easy for you to sit there, and say, "if that was me, i'd do this or that" when you have never ever walked that path, and have no idea what resources another person has, or knows about.

    THIS WORLD COULD JUST USE A LIL MORE LOVE AND COMPASSION AND UNDERSTANDING AND TOLERANCE, imo.

    If you truly think learning another language is that simple, can you truly picture yourself knowing your new language well enough to use it exclusively?
    For real, picture, you are waking up from surgery, and no one,
    not one person there,
    speaks English. And they tell you, "Ey, you moved to Austria, learn the language! You've been here a year already, what do you mean, you don't understand medical terms in your new language yet? what? "
    instead of find a translator so you know how to care for this incision.

    Btw, English is notoriously hard to learn, so so much slang, so many local accents which do not match the class you took,:tongue: so many acronyms, and abbreviations, like LB for pound,
    so many ways to spell and pronounce so many words, like "way" and "weigh", for example,
    so many Americans do not speak with clear diction,
    like those who say "ahdunno" "wha?" "whatevah" "momma an dem" "fixin to go to da stowe" etc,

    Many Americans don't sound like the classes that immigrants take.
    "no way" (why won't they weigh the item?)
    or even phraseology, like "running water"....."traffic backed up"......"can't stand it"...."gonna crash"....

    or by listening, it can be hard to know what words here mean,
    or "havin" and "heaven" and "haven",
    or "right" and "write"
    and "wait" and "weight"
    and "they're" and "there" and "their" and the southern "thar" and New England's "theah"
    on and on and on.....

    English just has so few 'rules' cuz it is a blend of so many other languages.


    In USA, we are ALL decedents of immigrants. (with the possible exception of Native Americans)


    also, re: //"Most of my friends who graduated college don't even use their Spanish skills. "//
    Are they actually employed? Doing what?

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