| Topic Name: |
languages |
| Message Name: |
russian |
| Date Posted: |
02/27/2006 |
| In Reply To: |
I already speak fluent mandarin chinese and looking to study a 2nd foreign language while getting my MBA. (not starting for another year and a half, so I have 3 years to learn one before EOD-ing, if everything goes smoothly.
Anyhow, Ive boiled down my choices to either Russian or Japanese, as I'm fascinated by both (culturally and linguistically) neither relate at all really (esp. grammatically) to Chinese, so it will probably be the same degree of difficulty for either; so in effect, I will ultimately determine which one to choose by its political/economic/military relationship to China and which the agency has a basic higher need for overall.
Japan, aside from their massive economy is China's largest trading partner, while Russia shares a border with China, the two have old ideological ties and are in cahoots with each other as black market arms suppliers.
Which should I choose (from the agency's POV)?
thanks |
| Message: |
From my POV Russian is more valuable than Japanese. But, if I am not mistaken, knowledge of Chinese would give you a leg up in learning Japanese (Japanese uses some of the same characters). I say Russian though because it is still widely spoken throughout the former Soviet Union, especially in hot spots like the Caucasus and Central Asia. Also from another standpoint, speakers of Russian are also much less likely to speak English then Japanese speakers. So you can get by a lot easier with English in Japan than in the former Soviet Union.
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