I don't think people appreciate how expensive and time consuming doing art is.

The only reason why artists are starving is cause it costs 2 month's rent just to paint 1 picture! (ok, I exagerate a little, but only a little)

Learning German? Awesome! I also avoided languages in school and college. Somehow I got out of languages for GCSE by doing Religious Education instead. I had considered doing some of the free points in my degree in a language, but the way it's worked out I've just done extra maths :/ However, a few years ago I did embark on learning German. I paid one of the teachers where I work to give me a private lesson for 1hr each week for about 6 months. Aside from that I've just read through some "teach yourself German" books, read normal books like Harry Potter and the Famous Five, watched some films and of course visited Germany extensively. I will be going for 2 weeks again in August! Also joined an introduction to French course last year, but sadly haven't had the time to continue it this year. Learning German and French alongside my Physics degree is all part of my master plan to get a job at CERN.

Ohne online uberstetzung, ich kann eine Satz wie dieser schreiben, voll von grammatische fehler! Aber gluecklicherweise meiner Deutsch ist genug mit mein Deutscher freunden zu plaudern.

Seriously, 4 years and my German is still terrible

Yeah, only a little. Just looking at canvas painting, you've got paint, one tube of one color of paint costs between $8 and $20 depending on the color and the quality and the type - oils can be more expenisive than that sometimes even. Then you've got brushes, and decent brushes can cost anywhere between $10 and 100. Then there's canvases. Crappy pre-stretched canvases that are only good for practicing usually cost around $15 bucks, but for serious work you need to make your own and that's about $40 bucks for the materials (wood frames, canvas, staples) plus the gesso to prep it (usually about $15). Then there's things like pallets, knives, turpentine, gels, and all the other additional materials that can add up to well over $50 worth of stuff.

So, a canvas painting might cost an artist as much as $400 or more to make (depending on the size and what kind of paint used and materials and so on) not to mention the time involved. And there's no guarantee they'll ever get to sell it.

A friend of mine teaches at the Institute of Art- Chicago and told me this when I asked him about those who are going after their BFA or MFA in the finer humanities:

"It isn't something you take up because you want to make money. Hell, if I knew I wouldn't be making the same amount of money as my husband, I would've gone into medicine. But I'm happy. I know a lot about the history of art, about the humanities, and about what makes someone truly human and humane. Art is here to help us reconnect to what we've lost through time. It is our historian, our medicine man, and our creativity. No, I don't make a lot of money. That's why I'm teaching, but I can tell you that I'm a lot happier than most people. I love life, I chose to do something I enjoy, and I'm happy. Poor but happy."
T. Panea

Exactly! Always plenty of jobs waiting tables or selling cars.

Neither of the grad schools I applied to have a foreign language requirement, and it would nearly be a deal breaker if they did. I dropped spanish in high school because it was about 80% of my total workload, and felt like a giant waste of time. If I anticipate needing it, I'll learn it on my own for 2% of the price of learning it at school. But I wont need it.