Language Pick

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Ramsrule

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Jan 8, 2022
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Hi all, just wanted some advice on what language would be best to take at West Point and for use outside and inside the army. I understand that some of the process is out of my control, but advice on which language would be best is really appreciated
 
We have had and will have far into the future combat related deployments in to South and Central America. We not only deploy there we work closely with their armed forces as well.

I don’t see how anyone could go far wrong with taking Spanish.
 
Ramsrule said:
what language would be best to take at West Point and for use outside and inside the army.
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This is a good question to ponder, but the wrong question to ask at this point.

exodus said:
Russian, Arabic and Chinese, you know...
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This would be the right answer with the possible addition of Farsi (Persian). These are three of the most difficult languages for English speakers to learn. It is a long road between choosing and language to learn and becoming proficient enough to be of any relevance to your career.

Do you have any demonstrated aptitude for learning a Foreign Language? Do you have a strong interest in the history, culture, or geopolitical political importance of any of the countries where a particular language is spoken? Unless you are blessed with a gift, the answer should yes to either or both of those questions. Spanish or German would be considered the easiest languages, but even then, many smart people struggle with them.

The Army has a general interest in promoting foreign language ability of its officers, but it will be of little or no relevance to your service until the rank of Captain...and that assumes you join Special Forces. Even then, you could have mastered one language only to be assigned another one altogether.

That being said, Americans generally don't value proficiency in a foreign language as necessary or even important. Nonetheless, it is an excellent addition to one's skill set. It can be called upon, sometimes inadvertently, and allow you to differentiate yourself from your cohort.

Congratulations on your appointment and best of luck!
 
Spanish and Portuguese are noted by the cadets as the easiest languages. Then perhaps comes German and French, and then we get the other languages. I for one am hoping to get Mandarin.
 
Unless you are using the language as a skill for the military or later in life, learn the easiest or the one you are most interested in. Either way, it will help you get a good grade. Spanish is typically the easiest. If they do American Sign Language, I would suggest that. My soon took that for his high school foreign language and he loved it
 
My son has no language aptitude at all so we were stunned when he was voluntold to take Farsi his plebe year. He ended up loving it and took it for 3 semesters.

Don't expect to have a choice on what language you will study at WP.
 
Ramsrule said:
Hi all, just wanted some advice on what language would be best to take at West Point and for use outside and inside the army. I understand that some of the process is out of my control, but advice on which language would be best is really appreciated
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As I understand it, it can depend heavily on which branch you plan to peruse. German may be more useful for something like the engineering or medical corps, while something like mandarin may be fore useful for intelligence.
 
You have to like your choice of language in order to be good at it. My cadet is graduating in 3 weeks as double major in Computer Science and German with honors in both languages. So it is up to you. The perk of having foreign language major/minor: you get to do semester abroad or a summer abroad as mine did. Best wishes
 
Good luck on those language studies.

In my day our Bn had ARVN scouts assigned to our teams maybe 60% of the time. We did not have enough scouts for 100%.

Not one of those scouts in our Bn spoke English. Not one of the Marines or Docs , when I was there, spoke Vietnamese.
 
Our DS is a plebe taking Chinese and is definitely enjoying the challenge. We don’t get a great deal of information so don’t know if he was voluntold or not. His goal is a semester in Taiwan his cow year
 
CDT_3513 said:
German may be more useful for something like the engineering or medical corps
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This was the standard advice when I was in High School and in the case of Engineering, it was because of the great respect that was widely held for German engineering. I worked a full career in the Tech Industry and served on multinational advisory boards as well as working for a European company that had locations in Germany that I worked with. In ALL, I repeat ALL cases, the language used was ENGLISH. This includes a French owned and operated Train manufacturer with almost all of its design and manufacturing subsidiaries scattered across France plus Italy, Germany, Poland, Spain, etc where there was just one US facility and the language used for all meetings, even when there were no Americans was ENGLISH. Please don't take German because "Engineering". As for Medicine, the root words are Latin but if you want to be able to talk to your patients that you're liable to see as US Doctor, it would be Spanish for a foreign language.
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As for USMA specifically, look at the places where you're likely to be stationed if outside the US and the list starts with Germany and South Korea (Hangul).
 
ALF648 said:
Our DS is a plebe taking Chinese and is definitely enjoying the challenge. We don’t get a great deal of information so don’t know if he was voluntold or not. His goal is a semester in Taiwan his cow year.
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Excuse me, do you know if he is able to compete for a slot to Taiwan’s Airborne school? USMA’s website says that is a foreign MIAD available to students taking Chinese, but I’m not sure if it is still available.
 
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