Current Events > Resources for achieving competency in a foreign language in one summer?

(+) Yeah! (+)

This week, I found out that my graduate institution approved my application to transition into the doctoral program. The first three semesters of my experience here have been ostensibly as a M.A. student, even though it was always my intention to be promoted to the Ph.D. program. While this is exciting, it means that I will have some additional responsibilities this summer. The chief of them is that I need to achieve reading competency in an ancient language and a modern language before my coursework is finished in December 2021. Out of the options, I am gravitating towards Latin and French since I see those as being the most useful to me in my research. Normally, the school offers a summer intensive language course for its graduate students, but this summer it will not, so I will have to get this done independently.

Has anyone here ever worked to learn a foreign language over a summer? Does anyone know of any thorough but accessible programs that could help me when the time comes?

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Duolingo won't teach you a language, but it will make taking the next step up much easier to digest. I couldn't tell what program the next step up would be, cause for me it was just the island I was living on.

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Latin is going to be difficult without a tutor or, I imagine, expensive software or online lessons.

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Over a single summer, I don't think you really can, especially not two languages at the same time

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UnholyMudcrab posted...

Over a single summer, I don't think you really can, especially not two languages at the same time

It wouldn't be two in one summer. It would be one this summer and one next summer. It is definitely possible, since all the Ph.D. students get their language requirements done during the summers. The question is what the best software would be to help me do it.

CommunismFTW posted...

Latin is going to be difficult without a tutor or, I imagine, expensive software or online lessons.

I heard it would be best to start with French since that may be easier, though I'm open to starting with Latin if there is any real reason to (i.e., maybe I'll find a better summer program for Latin).

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Getting your class requirements done in a summer and learning a language in the summer are not the same thing. You could ostensibly achieve a competent level but that would only be with extensive learning (talking 4-8 intense hours in class per day) and preferably immersion. Self-guided you likely wont get there.

And bottom line you absolutely will not get there with software. Language software is a supplement and a tool, but by itself will not get you where you want to go. Best software would be a simple flashcard deck for spaced repetition.

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Also just out of curiosity, whats your field/research direction?

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RebelElite791 posted...

Also just out of curiosity, whats your field/research direction?

Government, focusing on American politics and political theory.

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Thats cool, interesting they have that kind of language requirement for government, but I guess it makes sense if youre looking at government and its development throughout history, in which case those languages are definitely good choices, as you may be able to use knowledge from one to build on the other.

That said, the most important factor in language acquisition is interest and motivation, and if theres a language you are more interested in even if it might not be as beneficial to your research itll likely be easier for you to pick up. But thats something youve gotta decide for yourself

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RebelElite791 posted...

Thats cool, interesting they have that kind of language requirement for government, but I guess it makes sense if youre looking at government and its development throughout history, in which case those languages are definitely good choices, as you may be able to use knowledge from one to build on the other.

That said, the most important factor in language acquisition is interest and motivation, and if theres a language you are more interested in even if it might not be as beneficial to your research itll likely be easier for you to pick up. But thats something youve gotta decide for yourself

Latin would be useful for classical writers like Cicero, Sallust and Livy, Christians such as Augustine, Aquinas, and John Calvin, and even more recent English figures like John Milton and Thomas Hobbes. French would also be helpful since many political thinkers whom I am interested in originally wrote in the French, including Charles de Montesquieu, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and Alexis de Tocqueville. Still, I do fear that I will learn these languages and then rely on the English translations anyways, causing me to forget them as soon as I pass the language competency tests, lol.

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