Should I take Spanish or French?!

Jordan   Fri Feb 26, 2010 2:45 am GMT
Okay, I'm a 15 year old high school freshman. I'm currently taking French I and am doing rather well in the class. Here's the situation...

I took Spanish A and Spanish B in middle school which are the equivalent to Spanish I. I could've moved on to Spanish 2 my freshman year, but chose French instead. I'm now somewhat regretting the move. It's not that I don't like French, because I very much enjoy the class and the language. I just think that Spanish is more important to learn right now, and I kind of miss the class.

I'm not sure if they'll still let me take Spanish 2 right now, I'm going to ask my school counselor tomorrow morning.

The question is... should I stay in French, or switch to Spanish?
marcellus minimus   Fri Feb 26, 2010 3:21 am GMT
<<The question is... should I stay in French, or switch to Spanish? >>

If you liks Spanish so much and it's so important for you, why not study it on your own, outside of school?
a demotivator   Fri Feb 26, 2010 3:26 am GMT
<<I'm currently taking French I and am doing rather well in the class. Here's the situation... >>


In other words, you just started and still suck very, very much.


<<I took Spanish A and Spanish B in middle school which are the equivalent to Spanish I. >>


What a waste of time.


<<I could've moved on to Spanish 2 my freshman year, but chose French instead.>>


What a waste of the wasted time you spent on Spanish.


<<I'm now somewhat regretting the move.>>


As you should. Although you should regret ever learning any languages most of all.


<<. It's not that I don't like French, because I very much enjoy the class and the language.>>


It doesn't matter whether you like it or not. "Liking" something is not enough to create motivation or success. I would "like" be a millionare, but I ain't ready to work that hard.

<<I just think that Spanish is more important to learn right now, and I kind of miss the class. >>

Neither Spanish nor French are important and shouldn't even be attempted. Just leave it to the native bilinguals. They'll manage without you. And you'll get over your yearning for the class. Trust me, with time and suffering it will be forgotten.

<<I'm going to ask my school counselor tomorrow morning. >>

Don't take their word for it. A school counsellor's job description is basically "lie and trick even the most retarded kid into thinking they're special and gifted. Reality is irrelevant."

<<should I stay in French, or switch to Spanish? >>

Given your lack of ability to decide things for yourself (because at the end of the day if you really want to learn a language you need INITIATIVE and to take it UPON YOURSELF), you aren't made for learning languages and should not waste your time. Save yourself some time and get a real hobby/job.
another demotivator   Fri Feb 26, 2010 3:47 am GMT
<< I would "like" be a millionare, but I ain't ready to work that hard.>>

These days, a million dollars isn't what it used to be. A million (or two) doesn't make you rich, or even all that comfortable.

In fact, in this greatest of all bubbles, that million dollars is fictional and just represents someone else's debt that will never be repaid. Either you'll lose most of it (via 401K/IRA confiscation, stock market crash, house price crash, or other asset deflation) or the upcoming hyperinflation will just make it almost worthless.

(All that being said, I suppose it's better to have a million dollars than not have it.)
a demotivator   Fri Feb 26, 2010 4:00 am GMT
You're right about that, another demotivator, thanks for demotivating me. It is certainly a good reason for one not to waste their time playing around with all that financial stuff. Just hide your money under your mattress, but even then it can be stolen... Which is not the worst thing that could happen given I'm more likely to be the stealer than the victim... But still, even becoming a crook is a waste of time. Too much stress and worry and prison (although the way prisoners live these days it might not be so bad after all, if you just can't be bothered providing for yourself). Better to move to Europe and become "disabled" and get government handouts.
motivator   Fri Feb 26, 2010 4:51 am GMT
What is all this demotivating? Just because you're a loser doesn't mean that every body else has to be a loser like you.
Harman   Fri Feb 26, 2010 2:37 pm GMT
As you wrote up it seems you have some gift with languages (you enjoy).

Why not french + spanish... both are latin languages, french should help you with spanish and viceversa.
Beside you must remember Brazil portuguese and Spanish are very, very, very close languages.

You can achive 4 languages!!!, English, french, spanish, brazil portuguese, don`t be afraid, a lot of people in Central Europe can do it. Just work hard, begin to seed now and you will get profit of it in your future.

Good luck
Pete from Peru   Fri Feb 26, 2010 3:40 pm GMT
Hey Jordan.

Although Demotivator is characterized by exposing his ideas in a rather harsh manner. He does make some points. So take some of his advice into account.

Something is for certain. I don't know you, but I can more or less assume that right now you are not making any serious progress. But that's OK. You're learning the basics. And you can still keep that knowledge an use it later when you decide to take up either language you like.

Now if you like it then go for it. I studied English especially because I like it. So "Liking something" can be a good source of motivation to keep you interested at leat on the first stages of learning. Some people find that liking alone is not enough, but if you are the kind of person that goes and dedicates himself on doing something just because you like it, I think you can make it.

You already have some basic knowledge of both languages. Go and take up the one you like more, the one which you can practise more, the one that you think will be more useful.

Good luck.

Pedro
GuestUser   Fri Feb 26, 2010 4:56 pm GMT
If you seriously want to learn a language, then forget the whole school system, get a good grammatical based book and teach yourself. If you are truly dedicated, and truly are gifted with languages you'll learn far more with this method than you'll ever learn from school classes.
Pete from Peru   Fri Feb 26, 2010 6:11 pm GMT
Yeah. I agree with that. And if you have private lessons with a good teacher. Or at least have a native speaker to practise with. Someone who has sharp ear and enough patience to correct your pronunciation and intonation mistakes will really help as well.

Good luck
Jordan   Fri Feb 26, 2010 11:11 pm GMT
Great news! It turns out they won't make me retake Spanish I which was mainly what was going to be the deciding factor if I take Spanish or not. I now think that I'm going to learn French and Spanish simultaneously throughout high school, so I'll graduate high school with French IV and Spanish IV.

I'll then move onto college level I suppose.

Any advice on how not to mix the two up, I've spent hours researching each language, and they're both very simular.

Thanks,

Jordan
K.   Sat Feb 27, 2010 4:42 am GMT
I took them both in high school and didn't really have a problem with mixing them up. They don't sound alike.
Jordan   Sat Feb 27, 2010 6:32 am GMT
I wasn't concerned about pronouncing/saying incorrectly. I was more worried about mixing up the writing portion of the language. It's really the whole masculine vs feminine thing.
a demotivator   Sat Feb 27, 2010 7:31 am GMT
Yes, you will certainly mix them up very often, and make yourself a laughing stock by using the wrong gender and so on. If you're such a pansy that you can't handle making INEVITABLE mistakes and being ridiculed mercilessly then you're bound to fail and ought to give up right now.

If it's writing you're worried about, don't worry, you'll probably never write like a native anyway so what does it matter if you stick a French calque in your Spanish here or there? Until you're an advanced learner the other errors will be so abundant that no one will even notice them. Once you're an advanced learner (in the oh so unlikely case you get there), then you won't mixed them up any more because that's what "advanced" means.

In other words, just deal with it. Stop stalling with questions that are irrelevant for a beginner and start slaving away. You can come back with your questions in 10 years, when I will be glad to discuss the delicate differences between Spanish and French with you. See you then!
Dryad   Sat Feb 27, 2010 8:54 am GMT
Take spanish man,despite being the indigen language, is the easiest among the romantic languages.