Language Training?

[cohort]

Originally Posted by noonan117

I would say that as special operators need to know two main languages to culturaly thrive in today's theatre of modern warfare against terrorism: Arabic and Farsi.

1. Arabic. First basic Arabic, then as you become comfortable and fluent with the fundamental Arabic, try learning different Dialects of Arabic (ie. Pashtun, etc.) Because in places like Afghanistan, there are many different tribes that speak different dialects of Arabic. Learning these dialects can help any special operator not only perform better but blend in as well.

2. Farsi. Farsi is pretty tough to learn. I would advise learning Arabic first. Farsi will be much easier to catch on to once you have the know Arabic because both languages are similar. As America isn't in a conflict with Iran (not that I know of) I think it would be beneficial to know the language, just in case.

With all respect to your post, I do not agree with the difficulty levels that you assigned to these languages.

Arabic is one of the most difficult and complicated languages of the world, with it's hidden and unwritten meanings, and very different dialects.

If you know formal Farsi- you are able to communicate with Persians, Afghans, and Tajiks (Iran, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan), or at least you are able to pick up the dialect very quickly because the main difference is the sounding and pronounciation (although in Tajikistan people also use cyrillic script). While if you know MSA, you will have lots of difficulties communicating on the streets of the village/city. For example if you speak Arabic Maghribi that is spoken in N. Africa, you will hardly understand someones' daily speeches on the Bazar in Yemen or Oman.

Arabic language is a very "deep" language, with hundreds of unwritten meanings. ONE word in ONE Arabic dialect can easily have 5 different meanings, both written and unwritten, without mensioning what meanings this word has in other dialects.

Let me give you a very simple example to give you a clear idea:
The word "Where" in Formal Farsi is pronounced "koojo". It is pronounced and written the same way in Dari, Tajiki, and Persian, all formal or informal.
In Arabic in "Lugha al rasmiya" "formal language/word" the word "where" is pronounced " 'ayy-na" . The same word in spoken Jordanian is pronounced "wanak" and is written differently. Neither sounding nor pronounciation are close right?

So in conclusion: Arabic language is way more difficult and complicated to learn, especially if learning MSA and trying to communicate with someone who is not very literate, and who speaks a very different dialect.
Farsi, in this case, is very simple, and can be understood by many different people, both literate and not.

[randomFIRE]

I agree with cohort, noonan has the difficulties reversed (among other problems). First of all, Arabic is much harder than Farsi (at least for English speakers). If you are interested in picking up a critical language quickly, Farsi seems to be a very good choice. Here is a great analysis of why:
http://www.pagef30.com/2008/08/detai...y-persian.html

Second of all, Pashto is not a dialect of Arabic at all. It is much closer to Persian than Arabic. Also, there are no arabic dialects widely spoken in Afghanistan. 50% of the population throughout the center/north speaks Dari (a variation of Persian/Farsi) as a first language, and 35% speak pashto (mostly in the south).

As for the Arabic dialects, I have been studying MSA for two years at Uni, and understanding a dialect is next to impossible. However, educated folks usually can speak or understand MSA. From what I have heard, the Egyptian dialect seems to be the closest to a lingua-franca that there is for the arab world. Since lots of arabic language films, music and news comes from Cairo, most people have been exposed to this dialect and can at least understand it, if not speak some themselves.

Hope that will help someone.

[spark1390]

I'm a native English speaker with a limited proficiency in French and a very basic understanding of Russian, with plans to dabble in Chinese after improving my current tongues.

I cannot speak for the practicality of any language, but in my opinion, unless you're already learning a language, it would seem like a good idea to make a decision on which language to learn AFTER joining the teams, as this would provide first/secondhand knowledge of which languages would be most valuable to the team.

If, however, you just can't wait, I can give you the odds:
China has over 2 billion inhabitants, that's about 33% of the entire population
Arabic comes in 2nd with c. 500 million: 8%, give or take
CIA Factbook puts Russian-speakers at about 250 million: 4% of total pop.

[scskowron]

Originally Posted by cohort

the word "where" is pronounced " 'ayy-na" . The same word in spoken Jordanian is pronounced "wanak"

I've been to Jordan and I heard "wayne" not "wanak."

Originally Posted by randomFIRE

From what I have heard, the Egyptian dialect seems to be the closest to a lingua-franca that there is for the arab world. Since lots of arabic language films, music and news comes from Cairo, most people have been exposed to this dialect and can at least understand it, if not speak some themselves.

Yes that's pretty much true.

[randomFIRE]

Originally Posted by scskowron

I've been to Jordan and I heard "wayne" not "wanak."

Very possible, i'm not sure about jordan and the other countries in the levantine dialect, but I know in egyptian it is "fayn" rather than "ayna" (just to help further emphasize the difference between the dialects).