I’ve occasionally posted advice to new graduate students here, as well as notes on things I think I’ve done right as I moved through graduate school. All of this might make it look like I think my way has been the best way, or even that I am confident I know what I’m doing. So I’d like to also make a point of talking about the things I wish I’d done differently.

Lately, I’m very aware that I wish I’d done a different foreign language for my requirements. I took two years of Spanish in high school because it was the only language offered at my small school. When it came time to fulfill my nine hours of undergrad language requirements, I had a choice between French, Spanish, German, and Russian. I really wanted to take French, but I ended up with more Spanish for a couple of reasons.

First of all, it seemed like the most practical thing to do, given the fact that the Hispanic population in Arkansas expanded exponentially in the 90s. (Some northern Arkansas cities moved from a less than 10% Hispanic population to as much as 60%. Most immigrants come up from Mexico to work in the chicken plants or in construction.) At that time, I didn’t know that I would ever leave industry or Arkansas. We were hiring a fair number of Spanish-speaking employees as box loaders. This seemed like a language that I might actually have a chance to speak and that might be useful in my career.

Secondly, it seemed more practical to become more fluent in a language rather than to start over again learning a second one. This hasn’t panned out at all, since I’ve retained practically none of my Spanish. Muy poco. Had I learned French, then I could have spoken very little of two languages! I must say, though, that it has generally helped my reading of Romance languages — which doesn’t mean that I can actually read any of them without a dictionary, though.

Had I been able to look ahead and see what I’d actually be doing with my life, I would have followed my instincts and taken French. That would be rather useful to me right now, both in my reading of French poststructuralism and the work that I need to be doing with the Encyclopedie. (French is a really nice language for someone with an interest in encyclopedia history to have.) Had I had the chance, I would have also taken at least a couple of semesters of attic Greek, which I’ve also always been interested in. If you’re doing any actual research in classical rhetoric, Greek can never be a bad thing to have.

It occurs to me to pick up a couple of undergraduate classes in either of these, but I’m not sure when I’ll have the time. One of the professors in my old department took a full load of undergrad courses every semester as she worked toward tenure, since it enabled her to continue to defer interest on the student loans she was working hard on repaying. (She’s continued to do so post-tenure, and the last time I talked to her she was having a blast in the theater's costume department.) Obviously, you can make time for anything if you really want to. The question is, when do I want to?