C1/C2 is pretty much a must-have for studying abroad, I think even ERASMUS that's aimed at undergrads requires it. I took CPE and IELTS (general and academic), passed decently well but it was HARD. That said, working abroad is a different bag. I think you can work as a full (registered?) nurse with B1 and some specialized course that builds up thematic vocab. My ex is doing some kind of dentistry fellowship in Berlin and her German makes me sound like Goethe despite progressively forgetting the language over the last decade. My school offered English and German/Russian/Italian/French to choose from, English and at least one of the others were compulsory. I took German, because I was born there and wanted at least one easy grade. My mother caught onto it, changed it to French. Then she begged the principal to have that reverted after first year when it turned out I'm dyslexic outa wazoo. I vented my frustrations with "how stupid does it feel to make me study a language where every word has 14 letters but you only pronounce ones that aren't there?" I also tried the other two, but Russian is... really weird. Poles either catch it quickly - like, from 0 to accentless B2 within 2-4 semesters, I've seen that happen - or stay confused. I can understand basic, non-idiomatic speech without much effort, so never got motivated to buckle down, but it's purely passive. Mieja zawód Devac, u mieja nie bolsze. If you give me an hour, I might remember enough Cyrillic to write that? EDIT/Addendum [I think it's all too visible I wrote these recent posts super sleep-deprived, feel it'd be iffy to correct in full]: Forgot to finish the thought on Italian. Its grammar is astoundingly similar to Polish. Which is unfortunate, as in both there are so many weird pitfalls and unexpected irregularities they sap any will to use it. Dropped it quickly, afterwards came to class here and there because my high school made free hours in schedules and you can only read our library's meager sci-fi section so many times. I actually wanted to learn Latin and Greek very early on, but... my first lesson with a tutor involved an explanation of declension so convoluted I didn't get it despite German having the exact same cases as Greek [Nom, Gen, Dat, Acc], and Latin having 5 out of Polish's 7. Now? Hodie linguae Latinae studeo cum magna alacritate, et in Graeca antiqua commentaria et epistulae personae scribere possum. Ut in anno proximo et latinae aevo medio et graecae communi studeam.
I took Spanish for three years in high school. Latin for a half year, mostly to boost my SAT scores (Nate Silver's new fave metric[?]). Language doesn't stick with you much if there's no cultural immersion or social imperative. Or if I'm dumb. How unfortunate that all is. I'm still half-fluent, Lo hablo mas que a poco, que huevos por un guero, no? Lo se. But what use is it, how can I prove I'm better than google on the internet without cultural knowledge? I have almost none. (edit2: well... actually that might not quite register in European dialects of Spanish.. so... I dunno. It is a Mexican-style Spanish that I know, or more acutely, Tex-Mex) So while I was doing my best "perdon" in the Toulouse subways with all my luggage, in rush hour (thanks academic advisor)... you know what? We will finish this one in person some day. I might be in Paris in April but I doubt it. Sorry demure, things are... yeah. I will be back over in the Schengen someday. I know your Eurorail, and I have already schnitzel'd at the Ratskeller (and I'm a little glad that's over with). Uh but I think these next few years? I'm busy, but I age at half the normal rate on account of the fed-common-pot (FCP) adrenochrome we share; as fed contract perks. See you in 4 or two years Edit: I know they say it's hard when you're older (with no adrenochrome, I think?), but I know I can eventually reach some actual polyglot status. It's probably two decades out or so, but if the world would chill? Who knows.
-May I have some of that tofu? You can take my fries. -"Joey doesn't share food!" -The fuck's a Dżołej? (pronounced it back in an exaggerated Polish accent to emphasize my confusion) Oh, the looks of all those people suddenly realizing Friends wasn't as timeless as they thought back in the day. You make a great point regarding culture, but knowing the language is still a great tool to recognize your horizon of familiarity. It's also a way to expose yourself to it, should you want to. As to proving you're better than google, believe me, it has a long way to go vis-a-vis word choice. Usually not to the level of confusing "forgive me father for I have sinned" with "spank me daddy I've been naughty," but note my use of 'usually' there.how can I prove I'm better than google on the internet without cultural knowledge?
There might be some truth to the possibility that american culture is dora the explorer'd a li'l bit, for me. More than ever. And the emerging elements are increasingly less fascinating. I found myself defending weeaboos the other day because I was like "well..? I mean I kinda get it, at this point. Kinda, though". "Tic-a-tac-a" is an offensive move I know in futbol (it's the "give and go" in american basketball offense), but yeah I got an antenna to watch the worldcup via digital radio broadcast TV on Telemundo because when the american announcers react to a goal, it's literally "and there it is, peter, into the back of the net, for the argentinians, once again, Messi" vs. "GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL", like yeah I went and got an antenna for that second option! Hell yeah. No regerts. I'm in the minority here, actually. City and county wide. Oh no (/s). Just like with veen, it is more fun to banter with you or other europeans than many of the people I'm supposed to be culturally identically to in God's yt America or whatever we're doing now.You make a great point regarding culture, but knowing the language is still a great tool to recognize your horizon of familiarity. It's also a way to expose yourself to it, should you want to.