Should I learn Arabic or Persian?

[danzibr]

I made a thread recently about contemplating learning Arabic. But then... I thought about it, and maybe Persian would be better. As far as usefulness, what do people suggest? How about ease of learning?

I'm also considering Russian.

[Dalinale]

I made a thread recently about contemplating learning Arabic. But then... I thought about it, and maybe Persian would be better. As far as usefulness, what do people suggest? How about ease of learning?

I'm also considering Russian.

Arabic could be considered to be more 'practical', as it is spoken by more people than Farsi. If you are interested in applying language knowledge in the workplace, learning Arabic would probably be more useful than Russian, as there are more people who can speak both Russian and English then those who can speak Arabic and English.

Between Farsi and Arabic, Farsi would likely be slightly easier for one accustomed with English, as it has some things in common with English, given that both are Indo-European languages. It's spoken form is also more standardized; Arabic has more regional varieties (spoken Egyptian Arabic, for example, has several differences from Moroccan Arabic, for example), which may be less attractive to one who wants a more linear approach to learning.

[Mx.Silver]

Usefulness is going to depend heavily on your personal geography, but in purely general terms Arabic is spoken by (considerably) more people and in a larger amount of countries. So of the two it's probably got the wider range of uses.

[Winter_Wolf]

Russian is interesting, and bloody difficult in some ways but super easy in others. If all you're interested in is doing it for fun, just roll a d6 or something and then go for whatever corresponds to that number. You can always go back and pick up one or both of the others if you're just going for casual.

There's something like Nemo or something like that on Apple App Store, nothing amazing but you can learn some vocabulary if you can find the language you're after. I did it with Norwegian, and downloaded the Korean for my wife. Neither of us has been particularly diligent, though. Probably you can find an android version if you needed to.

[Eldariel]

Depends on your goals. Frankly all of them would do a great job expanding your perspective and opening up interesting sources. Persian I'd consider interesting in a historical sense: it's an Indo-European language but a far-removed one so you'd probably gain insights into the evolutionary processes and roots of the languages you better know too. Arabic, on the other hand, opens up the Semitic family and if you're e.g. studying northern Africa or Middle-East, a lot of sources use classical Arabic. The local varieties are also much easier to learn (though make no mistake, they are separate languages) and of course, if you think of employment it's like to be the one to interest prospective employees more.

Russian, on the other hand, is a closer relative and thus easier to learn. It's of course rich in cultural history: you have the superobvious ones like Dostoyevsky, Tolstoy, etc. and layers upon layers underneath that. I'd say for someone intending to stick to the western society, it's probably the most like to be useful of the three but in a more global perspective, I'd probably rate it over Persian but under Arabic. It's certainly a rather beautiful language though. Of course, it also serves as sort of a gateway to the other Slavic languages. That said, you'll be hardpressed to find people willing to speak Russian in many former Soviet countries so it'd merely serve as a gateway; you'd still have to learn the others separately.

[Bulldog Psion]

As someone who speaks quite a bit of Russian, I feel the need to put in a good word for that language. While I naturally prefer English to all other languages, I didn't find Russian all that hard, and it definitely sounds nice, IMO. :smallsmile: Also, in my experience, most people in the former Soviet Union still speak it, especially the farther east you go. In places like Belarus, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, etc. most of the people seem to be bilingual except for the most recent generation, and even a lot of them speak enough to communicate.

As a second choice, I'd recommend Farsi. Simply because my subjective opinion is that it's more pleasant-sounding than Arabic.

[Aedilred]

Of the two, I would learn Persian out of preference, but both are venerable languages.

As far as "usefulness" goes, that's largely subjective. Arabic is more widely spoken, but it's not much help there being a lot of Arabic speakers in the Middle East if you're going to be spending a lot of time in Iran and Central Asia and chose to learn Arabic rather than Persian. It's really a question of which is going to be more useful and interesting to you, I think.

[Flickerdart]

there are more people who can speak both Russian and English then those who can speak Arabic and English.
I know a lot of people who speak Russian, and will tell you they also speak English, but their competence is dubious at best.

Russian will probably be easiest to learn, since you write in the same direction, and the letters look like letters.

[danzibr]

Thanks for the responses, all.

I went with Arabic, mainly because it's more widely spoken, and Persian uses the Arabic alphabet but some letters with different sounds in Arabic get condensed to single sounds in Persian. After I do some Arabic I'll pick up some Persian too, is the plan.

[madinaharabic]

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[Peelee]

I vote Russian. Though i am kind of obsessed with the area, especially in the Soviet era, so I'm pretty biased here. No real reason other than I'm really interested in it.