Learning Languages

[Teluog]

Since religious studies requires a multitude of language skill, and with time to spare before I can afford graduate school, I'm thinking of tackling another language--either modern or ancient--to prepare myself.

My question is how should one go about studying & learning. I have 3 semesters of biblical Greek from Bible College but no Hebrew yet. If I was to tackle Hebrew, should this be done for credit at a school or is self-study considered legit enough when applying for graduate programs (assuming the school offers competency exams to prove yourself)?

In other words, is it necessary or just better on paper to take language courses for credit? Or can one simply self-study in one's spare time by purchasing books or borrowing from libraries and using any available internet resources and flash card applications? If coursework is necessary, is distance education frowned up?

Is any of this different when it comes to modern languages vs the ancient ones?

Edited August 17, 2014 by Teluog

[cadences]

Hi Teluog,

 

Just a quick question - is it be a master's degree or a PhD program that you intend to apply to? I think the rules of the game change somewhat with the program in question.

[marXian]

This is a little picky, but--"religious studies" is not what requires a lot of language preparation. That implies that everyone in an RS program must learn multiple languages when, in fact, some in RS programs will be required to learn zero languages and others will have to learn many, both ancient and modern. RS contains myriad subfields across just about every culture and time period. So folks who are studying texts, text reception, etc. in the ancient world, for example, are going to need to know the languages relevant to their region(s). I have colleagues in my program in the "American Religions" track who don't have to do any languages. That is a relatively new trend among humanities PhD programs; namely, that language requirements are decided by adviser and advisee. My adviser wants me to have reading ability in French and fluency in German (I study theology).

 

Getting a lot of languages under your belt before applying to PhD programs is really only necessary if you're doing text work in an ancient or medieval context. People who will be working with texts in Latin, Greek, Hebrew, etc. who have no experience with those languages previously stand very little chance of getting in anywhere. But most people interested in those periods will definitely have extensive preparation in those languages (since they're the most basic). It's then the other languages (Aramaic, Ugaritic, Syriac, whatever is relevant to your work, etc.) that will set you apart as an applicant.

 

It's not quite the same with the modern languages. I had one semester of college German four years before applying for programs and no French. The only disadvantage I had because of that was that I had to take language courses during my first year and first summer. Then I took the reading proficiency exams during my second year. People coming in with a language or two are usually able to get the exams out of the way in their first term. It was extra work for me, but it wasn't impossible.

 

If you're applying to M* programs, the only programs where you might have to worry about having better language prep would be non-seminary RS programs or something like Yale Div's MARc (again assuming you want to study texts). Otherwise, seminaries do not expect any language prep usually.

[cadences]

Getting a lot of languages under your belt before applying to PhD programs is really only necessary if you're doing text work in an ancient or medieval context. People who will be working with texts in Latin, Greek, Hebrew, etc. who have no experience with those languages previously stand very little chance of getting in anywhere. But most people interested in those periods will definitely have extensive preparation in those languages (since they're the most basic). It's then the other languages (Aramaic, Ugaritic, Syriac, whatever is relevant to your work, etc.) that will set you apart as an applicant.

 

 

If you're applying to M* programs, the only programs where you might have to worry about having better language prep would be non-seminary RS programs or something like Yale Div's MARc (again assuming you want to study texts). Otherwise, seminaries do not expect any language prep usually.

 

This

[sacklunch]

Since religious studies requires a multitude of language skill, and with time to spare before I can afford graduate school, I'm thinking of tackling another language--either modern or ancient--to prepare myself.

My question is how should one go about studying & learning. I have 3 semesters of biblical Greek from Bible College but no Hebrew yet. If I was to tackle Hebrew, should this be done for credit at a school or is self-study considered legit enough when applying for graduate programs (assuming the school offers competency exams to prove yourself)?

In other words, is it necessary or just better on paper to take language courses for credit? Or can one simply self-study in one's spare time by purchasing books or borrowing from libraries and using any available internet resources and flash card applications? If coursework is necessary, is distance education frowned up?

Is any of this different when it comes to modern languages vs the ancient ones?

 

Because your field says 'biblical studies/theology' I assume you will be doing something that requires a bit more language work. Tell us what sort of programs you are applying to and we can give you more specific answers.