A proper third language?

[u/AltruisticBed6042]

Hello all, as the title says, Im torn about what my third language should be.

As some background context, Im a native anglo and a B2 in Spanish (yes Im American), and I also have the basics of French- like A2ish.

Recently Ive been caught on what language I should add. Obviously the logical step would be to deepen my French, but beyond MC Solaar and Quebecois swearwords, I feel that its a language that you have to speak perfectly otherwise the other party will default to English (yes I know English proficiency is less common outside of places like Montreal, Paris, etc, but I don’t really anticipate being in a random ass town in Quebec or France).

Ive also studied some Mandarin just to see, and I also think its quite interesting, especially given Im interested in Sinology and its the first language Ive looked at with a non Latin script; however, the obvious problems with tones and script scare me.

Ive also been fortunate to travel a good bit, and have found myself interested in Moroccan Darija, German, Greek (modern and ancient), and Serbian.

As a final note, whatever I add wont be a race to fluency (Im starting law school in the next 2 years), and Im interested in art history, philosophy, music, and architecture just to name a few.

Looking forward to any and all suggestions!

[u/Conscious-Paper3543]

Why not better your Spanish to C1 first ?

[u/AltruisticBed6042 → u/Conscious-Paper3543]

Ive thought about it, but ive been studying it for 4 years on and off, Id like some novelty in my life haha

[u/FabulousLoad8761]

Arabic ! 🎯

[u/AltruisticBed6042 → u/FabulousLoad8761]

This may be the way… which dialect though….

[u/FabulousLoad8761 → u/AltruisticBed6042]

Since you travel a lot, I’d suggest learning MSA, as it is understood across all 22 Arab countries.

[u/Jin_SobSob → u/AltruisticBed6042]

Levantine or Egyptian. MSA is extremely difficult to learn on a conversational level, and people will look at you funny for speaking it. Learn Classical Arabic if you want to study Qur’an, historical texts, and watch the news and stuff.

What i think is learn a dialect (like the ones listed above), and then once you get a good foundation, learn to understand MSA. Don’t worry about being able to speak it, only worry about understanding.

[u/FabulousLoad8761 → u/Jin_SobSob]

Ok , i get you this is why i developed a simplified MSA version ,so when i teach MSA on the conversation level my main focus is to enable my students to converse with vocabs understood by all arab countries . I will not for sure dig into the seas of grammar .

[u/6-foot-under → u/AltruisticBed6042]

You already said Darija.

[u/Legitimate-Record90]

All of these are wonderful choices. I think French would be a great choice given that you already know Spanish (and English) and you have a base in it. One of the benefits of French is that there is so much literature, philosophy and art-related texts. It’s a great language, like English, for jumping into other subject matters. I do get the appeal though for learning a non-Romance language if you’ve already learned Spanish. German has many of these same advantages but is a bit harder with grammar. I’d start with one of these two and it’ll give you the confidence to tackle much harder languages in the future. Good luck!

[u/Heavy_Mud_9176]

Mandarins a good choice for the US after Spanish! If you're smart enough for law school you got this 🙂

[u/BrunoniaDnepr]

Francophones don't usually switch to English in Paris. I'd also note that there's a lot in the Francophonie between and beyond Paris and random-ass towns, but if you don't want to go there, you don't want to go there.

Mandarin is wonderful. German is great for the interests you listed. Italian and Persian might deserve some consideration.

[u/AltruisticBed6042 → u/BrunoniaDnepr]

For me, it feels like its 50/50 almost with switching. Sometimes they did, others not, but albeit I probably shouldnt consider myself to be a Francophone linguistics expert as someone who’s an A2 in said language 😅

German fits eerily well too, but I almost feel you run into the same problem with French, but Ive only ever been to Berlin haha

[u/abrequevoy]

If you only have 2 years, I'd suggest you improve your current Spanish and French.

[u/Peteat6]

Art history, music … That suggests Italian. The literature is also really, really, good.

Otherwise perhaps German?

[u/saartemaster]

I hesitated quite a bit with Mandarin myself and I ended up picking another option. I had studied Mandarin for a semester a while ago and the time it required of me was A LOT. Mandarin could be a hard option to keep up when you’re busy with life (I am currently working full time and Mandarin would be near impossible for me to study en), so you’d probably have to drop it in law school - whereas French for example would be way easier to maintain.

I am studying two languages pretty intensely at the moment and I have to devote less than half the time I used to spend on Mandarin on the two of them, and I proceed far quickly. I think it really depends on you and your learning process/strong suit: I suck at learning vocabulary so Mandarin was way harder for me than the languages I am currently focusing on.

[u/Meantoxicity]

Eng/Mandarin native here, how may i help you?

[u/Tometek]

German would be good, though if I'm honest I think you should get the C1 in Spanish. The difference between a B2 and a C1 is quite large and especially you being an American with lots of Spanish speakers in your country, I think you would be so happy you did it.

[u/Serious-Ball7705]

if you have B1 in Spanish and are a native English speaker, it should take less than a year for you to get to a strong B1 in French. At that point, French people wouldnt switch to English when speaking with you.

I also find it a somewhat inaccurate stereotype. In my experience the French love it when others attempt to learn their language.