Jump to content

What language?


benedicite

Recommended Posts

I finished undergrad a year ago and hope to apply this coming season for fall 2013 history/classics programs focusing on late antique religion, particularly early christianity

For the time being, I'm planning on taking some language classes. I have already taken 8 semesters of Latin, 5 semesters of Classical Greek, and 4 semesters of French. I'm thinking about a few options: taking more French, taking beginning German, or taking beginning Arabic.

I'd appreciate any advice/comments/questions. Thanks!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Most definitely take as much German as possible. As someone familiar with late antique and early christian scholarship, you will run into German scholarship all of the time - and it is usually quite dense, academic German. Graduate programs appear to look most favourably upon a practical knowledge of academic German - so focus on taking "German Reading" courses. Arabic would obviously very useful - and it may give you an edge when applying to some of the best Graduate programs.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you could, I would recommend taking Syriac, especially if you're interested in Eastern Christianity. If not, then I agree that German would be a wise investment, though I suppose that I agree even if you do have access to Syriac. Personally, I dislike German. It isn't particularly difficult, but it's grammatically rigid and not particularly fun for composition nach meiner Meinung.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was also going to recommend Syriac. To complement your studies you may also look at Hebrew/Aramaic. You might be required to take it as some point, since many of the Patristics deal with Hebrew/Aramaic sources (Jerome, ect).

Also check to see if your uni has a summer German reading course. This should give you the ability to translate (scholarly) texts with a lexicon.

cheers

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. See our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use