Persian (Farsi) or Arabic?

[bLub]

Hi guys,

Well, I'm gonna apply at French unis to start studying foreign languages in September

Now I just need to decide WHICH languages to take.

There's first the choice between Farsi and Arabic to make... here a few considerations...

• My mother's husband is from Iran which might be helpful (and also, I could then understand his parents who are visiting us every year and who can't speak any other languages)
  
• Arabic is spoken by more people than Farsi!
  
• However, Arabic is more difficult!?
  
• I read somewhere that the only "reason" to study Arabic is to read the Qur'an.
  

... and other ideas?

What do you think I should do?

Also, i might not be able to study Spanish, which I'd like to, coz I'm a beginner. But I could study Portuguese . What's the main difference btw those languages? Which one is harder/easier? Would Portuguese be useful?

Edited February 5, 2010 by bLub

[Mahuta ♥]

Ok, about Arabic and Farsi, I would go for Arabic as it's a widely spoken language in the region unlike farsi which is only spoken by a few countries. I have no idea about Farsi but Arabic can get difficult if you don't have the right teacher, other than that, I find that Farsi looks so similar to arabic only with some hard-to-write letters. And no, arabic is not only learnt to read Quran, besides the fact that it is the language of the Quran, arabic is learnt simply because people find it interesting sometimes, and I am not only saying this because I am arab.

Spanish vs. Prtugese, I have got NO idea what the difference between the 2 is, but I ADORE SPANISH, the first thing I am doing when I graduate is learn spanish!

Oh, and it happened to be that some spanish words are the same as the arabic ones.

[Abu]

Always go for the language that you have interest in, and that is spoken by more people in more places. With Spanish, you'd be able to speak it across the majority of Central, South and a lot of North America, as well as Spain but with Portuguese, it'd only be Brazil and Portugal.

With Farsi vs Arabic, definitely Arabic. Dead useful compared to Farsi, which is only spoken in Iran. They're both on similar scales of difficulty but you'd get a lot more exposure with Arabic since there are more Arabic speakers. With Arabic, you'd be able to speak it across the Middle East and parts of Africa.

[sweetnsimple786]

Also, I'd assume Arabic is going to be very useful to put on a job resume [CV], especially for certain types of governmental jobs. In the US knowing a spoken foreign language [especially Spanish] is a good credential for a job. And knowing Arabic is really, really useful for joining the military in any aspect.

On a side note, being good at recognizing patters and having a foreign language under your belt make you very desirable. Cryptology and the like

[Bishup]

Hey which Unis are you going to apply to? I have no idea how university in France works apart for Medicine and Engineering. I guess you do a bachelor's degree and then move on from there?

[HanoBee]

I'd go for Arabic as the whole Middle East uses that language, my mothertongue is Arabic and trust me if you want to work anywhere in the Middle East (including Dubai - which is one of the best working places) you have to be fluent at least in written and spoken formal Arabic.

Spanish or portuguese, again I'd go for spanish as it is more known and spoken than portuguese, always go for the one which offers you more options instead of limiting them.

Hey which Unis are you going to apply to? I have no idea how university in France works apart for Medicine and Engineering. I guess you do a bachelor's degree and then move on from there?

Well if you were thinking about other majors than medicine and engineering you might want to consider Science Po. university in France. I know about universities in China if you want but I doubt you're considering higher education there.

[bLub]

Thanks to everyone for your replies.

The thing with Arabic is though - in order to be able to communicate in one of the countries where "Arabic" is spoken, you'd need to learn a dialect. It's like learning Latin - you'd have the (grammatical) basis for romanian languages, but French is so not equals Spanish etc...

What do you think about that?

[Mahuta ♥]

From what I see with me, if you talk classic arabic to arabs they will reply in the same way, well I am certain most of them will. Even if you couldn't, your teacher should only talk to you in arabic to ensure that you develop the ability to communicate in arabic.

[bLub]

Hey which Unis are you going to apply to? I have no idea how university in France works apart for Medicine and Engineering. I guess you do a bachelor's degree and then move on from there?

Nope, I'm doing my IB diploma this year and will go to France next year in order to do my bachelor there. I'll probably apply to Strasbourg, Lyon, Montpellier... not fix yet though... still have some time

[~Lc~]

Dead useful compared to Farsi, which is only spoken in Iran.

That's not true Abooboo some areas in Afghanistan as well, but I do agree that Arabic is more useful.

You won't learn the dialects BLub you'll learn fos.ha which is proper arabic (or classical arabic) which every arab who goes to arabic school for some time will learn! the closest dialects to classical arabic are the ones in the Fertile Cresent (so Jordan, Palestine, Syria and Lebanon).

I'm thinking of applying to Lyon next year for the foundation scheme before I apply for a masters! deadline's in May though so I'm still not sure what I'm doing

anyway I suggest doing a semester abroad to learn the language, we have loads of Westerners bumming around in JU for a semester to learn arabic! and they've all found it very useful as far as I know =)

I'd go for spanish as well, personal preference!