Looking For A Language To Study

[Seajack]

I thought the military was a strictly volunteer job? Do you actually get paid well in SOF, or does it depend on the unit?

 

[AWP]

I thought the military was a strictly volunteer job? Do you actually get paid well in SOF, or does it depend on the unit?

I can't tell if you're curious and ignorant or just being a smartass but I'd drop this if I were you because you are WAY out of your depth.

 

[Etype]

Hell yeah we get paid well, and just wait till you see where we get to live.

 

[Headshot]

Hell yeah we get paid well, and just wait till you see where we get to live.

Hahahahahahahaaargh!

 

[Marauder06]

I thought the military was a strictly volunteer job? Do you actually get paid well in SOF, or does it depend on the unit?

Everyone gets the same base pay depending on their grade and years of service. Certain qualifications earn you extra money. Sometimes you get paid extra just by virtue of being in a specific unit- this usually applies only to enlisted personnel though.

 

[Brill]

Sometimes you get paid extra just by virtue of being in a specific unit- this usually applies only to enlisted personnel though.

Here, here!!

 

[x SF med]

Hell yeah we get paid well, and just wait till you see where we get to live.

Mud, without the huts... but 4 star cuisine....

 

[Seajack]

I can't tell if you're curious and ignorant or just being a smartass but I'd drop this if I were you because you are WAY out of your depth.

I'm not trying to be a smartass. I thought it was just like being a volunteer firefighter. I've never heard my relatives or friends in the military or that were say a word about money or getting paid. Sorry if I came off the wrong way, I didn't mean it.

 

[Ranger Psych]

I think Seajack needs a slap rock for a Boat Buddy.

 

[Marauder06]

I'm not trying to be a smartass. I thought it was just like being a volunteer firefighter. I've never heard my relatives or friends in the military or that were say a word about money or getting paid. Sorry if I came off the wrong way, I didn't mean it.

Everybody has to eat, and raising a family takes money. People in the military don't talk a lot about money, because that's not why we do it. It wouldn't be very realistic to try to field a large army that never got paid.

 

[Headshot]

Being qualified to jump out of moving objects pays a little more, but ultimately takes its toll in the long run.

 

[Voodoo]

Latin heavily influenced a lot of the Romance languages, so it could be a useful tool to accompany what you're learning elsewhere. It will also help you enormously with your SATs and if you ever take the GRE, you'll be grateful for Latin. Plus, I don't know how it is at your school, but at my high school Latin class was stuffed with the really smart, really hot chicks. Something about law school or med school or something. That said, I don't think you should study Latin at the expense of something more modern and useful. The only time I used my Latin ability when I was in the Army was when we went to Jerusalem. My Soldiers were impressed that I could read the Latin prayers written on the walls and could understand some of the ceremonies we observed. Not particularly helpful.

It's good to start planning for your future now but don't start mentally locking yourself into a niche. As I and others have said before, there's no telling what the world is going to be like by the time you're ready for the military. The way things are going now, you may want to start learning Korean.

Spanish and French are both good languages to learn because lots of shitty little countries that we may have to invade or prop up speak those. Central and South America, the Caribbean, some countries in Europe of course and a smattering of countries in Africa speak French or Spanish. Personally I'd learn Spanish right now. Not only is there a war brewing south of the border, you can speak it in your daily life and practice it by turning on the TV or the radio.

I know I am getting in on this late but Mara is right about the Romance languages. Latin is their base and will help with French, Spanish etc....even if we are not in conflict with them don't mean its not useful. If you learn Latin that will give you a solid base for the Romance language as I am sure you prolly know. IMHO learning Chinese (cantonese dialect) since it seems the most common with the proficiencey in writing and all. That will in turn give you a real headstart in Japanese as well....for the writing part and recognizing the pictograms or what ever they call them. You can learn both languages and be extreamly proficient in them both with alot less work than say trying to learn Arabic, Farci etc. Just a thought.

 

[x SF med]

I'm not trying to be a smartass. I thought it was just like being a volunteer firefighter. I've never heard my relatives or friends in the military or that were say a word about money or getting paid. Sorry if I came off the wrong way, I didn't mean it.

You did not say that, not even a 16 year old is that naive, especially if he/she has relatives or friends in the military.

Everybody has to eat, and raising a family takes money. People in the military don't talk a lot about money, because that's not why we do it. It wouldn't be very realistic to try to field a large army that never got paid.

Key point.

Being qualified to jump out of moving objects pays a little more, but ultimately takes its toll in the long run.

Just the military life itself takes a toll... add any special skills, or Special Operations, and it escalates exponentially. We carry those aches so those for whom we volunteered to protect don't - we make that choice freely - see Marauder's point above.

Seajack - browse through the military related posts, especially the SOF ones... read a lot more, and learn something. It's much better in the long run to keep your mouth shut and let people think you are ignorant, than open your pie hole and prove it. I know you are young, you are involved in a paramilitary training organization (or claim to be) - why didn't you ask that question of your cadre?

Now shush for a while, we might forget we need to ignore your questions if you don't ask any for a few weeks or months.

this is a little bit rough, but better now than before you really step all over your own junk with sharpened track shoes.

 

[Headshot]

<SNIP> Now shush for a while, we might forget we need to ignore your questions if you don't ask any for a few weeks or months.
this is a little bit rough, but better now than before you really step all over your own junk with sharpened track shoes.

Hear ye, hear ye!

We carry those aches so those for whom we volunteered to protect don't - we make that choice freely -

Love ya Brother!

 

[SpitfireV]

IMHO learning Chinese (cantonese dialect) since it seems the most common with the proficiencey in writing and all. That will in turn give you a real headstart in Japanese as well....for the writing part and recognizing the pictograms or what ever they call them. You can learn both languages and be extreamly proficient in them both with alot less work than say trying to learn Arabic, Farci etc. Just a thought.

Beijing dialect, also known as Mandarin, is the best bet if one is learning Chinese. It's the standard language and everyone is taught it in schools, even if some areas speak it with incredibly thick accents. I'm looking at you Lioning.When people say they speak Chinese, it's Mandarin they speak.

Learning Chinese won't give many advantages to learning Japanese. While some of the characters are the same, that's only a very small minority. The writing is quite different too, I present this quote from wikipedia (the source of all true and correct knowledge):

"While kanji are essentially Chinese hanzi used to write Japanese, there are now significant differences between kanji used in Japanese and Chinese characters used in Chinese. Such differences include (i) the use of characters created in Japan, (ii) characters that have been given different meanings in Japanese, and (iii) post-World War II simplifications of the kanji. Likewise, the process of character simplification in mainland China since the 1950s has the result that Japanese speakers who have not studied Chinese may not recognize some simplified characters."

Japanese grammar is also significantly different to Chinese IIRC (I'm not 100% on that).

 

[SpitfireV]

去與自己性交

Slainte

LOL.

 

[Seajack]

Now shush for a while, we might forget we need to ignore your questions if you don't ask any for a few weeks or months.

this is a little bit rough, but better now than before you really step all over your own junk with sharpened track shoes.

I completely understand, and I will. Thank you.

 

[Voodoo]

Beijing dialect, also known as Mandarin, is the best bet if one is learning Chinese. It's the standard language and everyone is taught it in schools, even if some areas speak it with incredibly thick accents. I'm looking at you Lioning.When people say they speak Chinese, it's Mandarin they speak.

Learning Chinese won't give many advantages to learning Japanese. While some of the characters are the same, that's only a very small minority. The writing is quite different too, I present this quote from wikipedia (the source of all true and correct knowledge):

"While kanji are essentially Chinese hanzi used to write Japanese, there are now significant differences between kanji used in Japanese and Chinese characters used in Chinese. Such differences include (i) the use of characters created in Japan, (ii) characters that have been given different meanings in Japanese, and (iii) post-World War II simplifications of the kanji. Likewise, the process of character simplification in mainland China since the 1950s has the result that Japanese speakers who have not studied Chinese may not recognize some simplified characters."

Japanese grammar is also significantly different to Chinese IIRC (I'm not 100% on that).

Thanks Spit.....hehe I like that...anyhoo, a Japanese friend told me alot of the characters are very similar so I assumed....oops, I dood it, it would be a little help to the other. But I guess not. Thanks again. ;)

 

[SpitfireV]

There are a lot, but they're in the minority. If you look at the character styles, Japanese has a lot of curves and swirls that Chinese doesn't have. There's a lot of commonality between Japanese and Korean I'm told.

 

[Invictus]

I know that the thread has been addressed, but I would like to throw in my two cents in response to the original post. Seajack, in regards to learning Spanish, as a recent high schooler I can tell you that in my opinion the two years of study you will receive will make a great foundation. However, it will not raise you to a high level of understanding. I recommend that you supplement your studies by conversing with native speakers, if you're serious about learning the language. It will help more than any classroom can, in my humblest of opinions.