I also want to join the peace corps, I am in college and have the choices between Spanish, French, Greek, Latin, and German. I live in Nashville, TN and will probably teach there.
2007-11-21 15:50:14 · 27 answers · asked by jbd89 2 in Society & Culture ➔ Languages
Anything you ever wanted to read in Latin or Greek has already been translated into English, so don't waste your time with either of them (I know them both). French and German have very limited uses outside of the scientific community (I know them both as well).
SPANISH is the second language of the United States (even in Tennessee). It will be far more useful to you, as a teacher (of any subject) and as a Peace Corps volunteer, since millions of Americans speak Spanish as well as hundreds of millions of inhabitants of Central and South America.
2007-11-21 16:54:54 · answer #1 · answered by Taivo 7 · 3⤊ 1⤋
As far as the Peace Corps goes, you could probably learn any language. They will take advantage of the skills you have, or they will teach you another language. I imagine that Latin and (classical) Greek would be less useful to them, and I doubt that the Peace Corps dispatches many people to German-speaking countries.
As far as teaching, from a practical standpoint, I would say that Spanish might be useful to help you get a job. This is because many principals, when they are looking for teachers, are looking for teachers who can teach more than one thing. Since Spanish is such a widely taught language in the US, I would think that being able to teach Spanish should improve your job prospects. But if you decide to do this, please do your students a favor and study language teaching. There are many people teaching in our high schools who are not expert in language teaching methodology and their students suffer for it. Teaching language is not like teaching other subjects. French would be my second choice.
As far as language learning for your personal fulfillment, all languages are good and you should learn the one that you would like to learn. And if you have the chance and the desire, why not learn more than one?
2007-11-21 17:42:24 · answer #2 · answered by drshorty 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Spanish
2007-11-21 15:53:10 · answer #3 · answered by Dubby R 1 · 2⤊ 0⤋
It depends what type of history you want to teach. If you want to teach southern american history, it be best French (because of Louisiana) or Spanish (because of Texas and Florida). If you want to teach European history, French and German would be more useful.
Overall my experience is that teaching History at the high school level requires only English. It's when you are teaching at the college level that foreign languages begin to matter. I'd say pick the language you find most appealing instead of the one you arbitrarily believe will give you more economical benefit.
2007-11-21 17:13:19 · answer #4 · answered by Resonance Structure 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Spanish. Definitely.
Greek and Lain are not going to be used as often.
German/French would be my 2nd.
More and more Latin American immigrants are infusing their culture into America. Within a few years, Spanish will probably be REQUIRED in all school districts with a demographic of more than 50% Hispanic.
Good Luck with the career.
2007-11-21 15:55:33 · answer #5 · answered by Amy 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
English is the universal language, I would then move onto Spanish being that it is similar to Portuguese, Italian, French, etc (thus latin based language) and knowing that you can go anywhere in South America or Central America and not have any language issues. Then Mandarin but that is just hard and requires lots of patience.
2007-11-21 15:55:10 · answer #6 · answered by michaelR 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Many languages are derived from Latin and Greek, so if you wanted to take Spanish or French (or Italian, Portuguese, etc.) later, either of those would be a good basis for any of those languages. German is similar to many eastern European languages.
I took a year of Latin and my only regrets are that I didn't take it seriously when I did and that I didn't continue with it.
2007-11-21 16:03:06 · answer #7 · answered by mkbrocato 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I have to go with Spanish too - I am sorry I took French in high school. There are more people who speak Spanish in the US than any other language besides English. I haven't gone for job requiring you to be able to speak Spanish, because I don't know it.
2007-11-21 15:56:35 · answer #8 · answered by Kate J 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
1) Spanish: It seems to be the second most spoken language in America
2) French if you plan to ever travel/teach abroad. (Peace Corps)
Latin is really hard....Greek has limited use
2007-11-21 15:56:29 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
I would say spanish but I took spanish, french and latin and I don't feel that I ever quite mastered spanish and french but I do use my latin knowledge in my vocabulary all of the time.
2007-11-21 15:54:55 · answer #10 · answered by re_love1 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋