Language choice?

[endgame470]

Hi

Comments

[kethryvis]

If you're intending on making anthropology a career, if you opt to learn a language, it should be the language of the area you're interested in working in. If you want to work among people in small Spanish towns, learning German won't be much of a help.

Figure out where you want to work/research, and choose your language appropriately. If your school doesn't offer a language that is appropriate for your language of study, find one that's close, or something that will be of use in the future.

there is no one language, that I am aware of, that is helpful for all anthropologists. It all depends on your area of study.

OT

[bluestareyed]

is your username from the vows and honor series by Mercedes Lackey?

[sugarblue_sunny]

It depends on what area of the world you want to focus your studies in. If you're not sure right now, I would go with Spanish if you live in the US because even if you end up not studying in South America or Latin America/Mesoamerica it will probably end up useful in your personal life.

[wagrobanite]

I would say either Spanish or French but as two above me have said, it really depends where you want to do anthropology.

[the_samosaurus]

German and French are really important because a lot of anthropological papers are written in those languages, but, as everyone has stated, it's good to focus on a language of the area you are studying. (Meanwhile, I took 6 years of Latin, I didn't start really having the time to focus on my second choice, Spanish, until after undergrad! ^_~)

[emilia_romagna]

Take the one that looks like the most fun. If you're going to be a freshman, you might have an idea about what you want to do in arch when you're done with college, but by the time you actually get there, you'll likely be interested in something else completely. So take something that you'll enjoy, and worry about whether it'll work for your career later. After all, you can always learn another one when you know what you want. The more languages you learn, the better.