Help! Language classes!

[vanidyam]

Okay, so I'll be attending HDS this Fall, and I'm so excited... except for one thing... the language requirement. I haven't taken a language since my junior year in high school, and that was French. (I'm 23). Plus, in high school, I was not very good at languages... and my undergrad school was a make-your-own-major-and-take-any-class-you-want kind of college.

I'll be an MDiv student-- does anyone have an advice on maybe, what language to take? You don't have to be attending Harvard to answer my question-- I'm pretty much just asking for any general language advice for MDiv students... I'm assuming Latin would probably be on the easier side... also, if anyone thinks that some kind of Summer program might be vital for someone in my predicament...

Advice would be very helpful!

[Sparky]

Latin would be on the easier side?! (...says the medievalist )

Well, one way to look at it is, what are you planning to focus on and how far are you going to go with your degree? If you are looking at any kind of Christian theology and want something easy, German or French. (German is probably more useful. I find it easier. Most people prefer French). If liberation theology in particular is your thing, you need Spanish. Are you planning to go for a PhD/ThD? You will likely need Latin and/or Greek ("and" for historical; "or" for systematics or moral). Biblical, of course, is Greek and Hebrew, and German and French. (You will need Greek and Hebrew for admission to a biblical PhD program, and probably either German or French. Most people come into historical programs with at least one ancient language and one modern one).

If your focus is something besides Christianity, you will want to adjust your language according. Want to study Islam? Arabic. And so forth.

A summer reading course is a very, very good idea. Many universities offer them in Latin, French and/or German. I have no idea what Harvard's summer course offerings are like, but I can't imagine they wouldn't have, like, GER 501 "GERMAN FOR READING" or whatever in the summer. Such a course is a "zero to hero" class that will take you from 'ich bin ein Berliner' to being marginally competant, with a dictionary, at reading academic articles.

But if you are looking to make this as easy as possible, but still useful (assuming Christianity):

German.

The words are long, but the nouns are capitalized. It's a fair trade.

Edited March 16, 2010 by Sparky

[lovethequestions]

French. Take French. It might well be less useful than German, but it's far easier to learn.

[johndiligent]

I think the whole notion that some languages are easier to learn than others sort of misses the point. And as a Classics student, I've heard enough silly arguments over "Which is easier: Greek or Latin?" to know that it's pretty much entirely subjective and a silly way to make a decision. Learning a language really only becomes easier once you've learned several of them... your fourth language is easier than your third, your sixth your fifth and so on.

Anyway, I think your ability to master any language really emerges from how motivated you are to do so. For that reason, I'd pick a language that is relevant to your research interests and not worry about the relative difficulties of each. If there are few works of interest in French, for example, you're going to have a much tougher time motivating yourself to learn it, even if it were an "easier" language to master.

[vanidyam]

I think the whole notion that some languages are easier to learn than others sort of misses the point. And as a Classics student, I've heard enough silly arguments over "Which is easier: Greek or Latin?" to know that it's pretty much entirely subjective and a silly way to make a decision. Learning a language really only becomes easier once you've learned several of them... your fourth language is easier than your third, your sixth your fifth and so on.

Anyway, I think your ability to master any language really emerges from how motivated you are to do so. For that reason, I'd pick a language that is relevant to your research interests and not worry about the relative difficulties of each. If there are few works of interest in French, for example, you're going to have a much tougher time motivating yourself to learn it, even if it were an "easier" language to master.

I like your advice... I'm most interested in German, as most of my favorite theologians are 19th-century German guys. Also because I've always regretted taking French instead of German in high school. Ha. I think I'll really have to wait to talk to profs at Harvard, see what they suggest for an MDiv there... While I want to take German, Latin or Greek could perhaps make more sense....

You're definitely right-- when I enjoy something, I'm much happier and much more motivated...

Thanks!

[Jack Horner]

I, too, am interested in hearing more about this subject. Languages have never really been my thing...I've had limited success in all of my attempts to learn another language. When I was a UG, I took 2 semesters of Latin, and I'm still proficient enough that I'd be very comfortable taking a Latin class at the graduate level. Still, I'm going to have to take either French or German, and I'm a little nervous about jumping into a brand new language right away. Eventually, I'd love to learn either Hebrew or Greek. Truth be told, I'm 100x more excited to learn the ancient languages.

Still, I think I might like to take a class over the summer. Has anyone done this? Anyone tried Pimsleur?

[lovethequestions]

I think the whole notion that some languages are easier to learn than others sort of misses the point.

You're absolutely right, of course. I was responding under the assumption that the language requirement wasn't something the original poster was very excited about. I do believe that some languages are easier to learn than others--Syriac is simply less morphologically complex than Hebrew, for example--so for someone dreading the process, I was suggesting what I thought would be the least painful of the scholarly languages.

Does the language requirement at HDS specify scholarly language vs. primary source language? At ND, all the MTS students must take a language of scholarship--meaning that French or German are basically your choices (unless you want to study Schillebeeckx, or take Modern Hebrew, in which case you might make a case for an independent study).