S17 is starting University in the Fall in IR & behavioral economics. The IR major suggests 4 semesters of a language – however, with the language placement test, he placed out of all the straight language classes in one of his languages (Spanish), and his other fluent language is not offered there. He can in the future take advanced classes at nearby UPitt, but that is not recommended for first semester Freshmen.
So options seem to be 1. no language first semester (he doesn’t like this idea), 2. Take Intro to French (his other two languages are romance, so it should be easy, but this would be a new language). 3. continue with Mandarin (he has had the equivalent of intro to Mandarin.)
I should mention he probably wants to focus on Latin American IR, but does not preclude working in other areas. Any thoughts on which languages will help him obtain internships (right now his interests go towards non-profit international work) would be appreciated.
Seems like he fulfills the major requirement through placement in Spanish.
So it comes to which language he is more interested in learning (Mandarin, French, or some other).
@ucbalumnus – actually they say in the Major description that he would need to fulfill the requirement with an upper level class, but then they don’t seem to offer any that are straight language (most of the upper level classes seem to be about culture.) There is one reading/translation class in Spanish – no offered every semester – that is all I could find.
That’s usually the case for college - at least for European languages. After level 4, there’s just not much more you can say about different uses of the subjunctive. 
Well, then they would fit in ideally for a student that wants to focus on LA IR. As an FYI, even in upper level classes that don’t focus specifically on language acquisition, there is still plenty of reinforcement of grammar rules.
Has he talked to his advisor or someone in that department? They should be able to help.
He can ask which advanced Spanish courses can be used and then take one whenever he wants.
For other languages, he can take them according to interest.
Some comments:
-You don’t mention what is his other fluent language, but since it is a Romance language, it’s probably either Italian or Portuguese. If it’s Portuguese, he’s well prepared for his main interest in Latin America (also for Portugal and useful for parts of Africa and Asia). If it’s not Portuguese, he should try to pick this up at UPitt, even if he has to wait a semester. If it’s Italian, this is also useful for parts of Latin America (e.g., Argentina) and, of course, Italy. So, then he should either start French, which will expand his opportunities in Europe as well as adding opportunities in former French colonial areas elsewhere, or wait until he can pursue Portuguese.
-Mandarin: Is he willing to commit to several years of study and study aboard in China in order to obtain an adequate level of proficiency?
-IMO, knowing fewer languages well is more important than a smattering of more languages. Some students try to study too many languages thinking that it will be a career boost, but it’s difficult to develop expertise in more than one geographic/cultural region anyway, unless they have technical skills or very high level professional skills that transfer across areas.
-“most of the upper Level classes seem to be about culture”: Classes on culture taught in the target language would certainly be relevant for someone interested in IR.
-“Any thoughts on which languages will help him obtain internships”: 1. Languages in which he is most proficient; 2. Languages used in the country/region in which a particular internship is located. 3. If he already has Spanish (for Latin America, Spain), French might add the greatest geographic range (France and other parts of Europe, former French colonial areas of Africa, SE Asia, Middle East, Caribbean), and thus, expand the range of potential internships. 4. French is often a working language for many international organizations.
-For any languages he studies, he should be clear about his purpose: Is it to read scholarly literature in that language (either literature related to his geographic interests or to economics and IR)? to understand written and broadcast media? to converse with business and government officials? to conduct fieldwork with locals?
-UPitt also offers Quechua, an indigenous language in parts of South America , which could be useful depending on his career interests.
@zapfino Thanks, those comments were very helpful. Yes his other language is Portuguese.
I agree about the ultimate futility of studying languages widely rather than deeply. He only took up Mandarin because of limited options. He had finished Spanish 5 after junior year, and his school didn’t have any further Spanish classes. They also would not let a senior start up French and didn’t teach Italian, so the only choices were Mandarin, Latin or no language. Also he is the type of person who likes to learn a few words of every language he comes across, so he has enjoyed this little foray into Mandarin. However, I don’t think he will pursue it, especially since literacy would be very challenging.
Interestingly, we stayed in a Quechua village a few years ago in Ecuador, and both found the language fascinating. However, I am not sure how useful it would be for him to study Quechua unless he could partake in the UPitt program to have a summer immersion experience in the language. It is difficult to learn a language conversationally if one does run across anyone who speaks it fluently.
From my son’s perspective, he definitely likes to learn languages to relate to people of different cultures. He is very good at acquiring conversational ability, and I guess that his joy. He has already done some fieldwork using his Spanish – unfortunately jobs involving Portuguese are harder to come by in our area.
@skieurope Just to clarify – I think those upper level cultural classes are not taught in the language of study – they appear to be in English. That is our concern, since language maintenance requires practice. Back when I was an undergrad they had upper level conversational classes in just about every common language – but then I went to a much bigger University.
One idea – Maybe he can start up a student taught class in conversational Spanish or Portuguese.
From your previous posts, your son is attending CMU, yes? I just googled their course catalog (http://coursecatalog.web.cmu.edu/dietrichcollegeofhumanitiesandsocialsciences/departmentofmodernlanguages/courses/) and the vast majority of their upper level Spanish courses say they are taught in Spanish- this is pretty typical at most universities. Usually upper level classes are taught in the target language, but discuss various aspects of culture or literature.
@guineagirl96 Thanks we didn’t see those 82-342/343/344 classes – for some reason they did not pop on his search. So those look like good options, if the instructor will admit a freshman.
A lot of students come in very advanced in a language or multiple languages nowadays, having the opportunity to start language in 8th grade, so getting in 5 years by graduation, and many other students who just happen to be multi-lingual. Colleges don’t have a problem allowing these freshman into advanced classes in language granted they have the credentials, take a placement test, etc.
Has he taken the school’s placement exam? Usually kids take the university’s foreign language placement exam at orientation before registering for classes. I would find it unusual for them not to place him in appropriate level classes.
@Mom2aphysicsgeek Yes he just took the placement test in Spanish. That was what surprised us – instead of placing him in a class it said he passed the level for the first 4 classes and “talk to adviser.” Of course he put in a message to his adviser, but it is a holiday weekend and I think he was supposed to send his class schedule off to adviser by early this week… Then his college-assigned peer mentor suggested taking an entirely different language.
Looking in the catalog listing, there are many 82-3xx and 82-4xx courses that are conducted in Spanish. It is rather likely that these will qualify for the purpose of the IR major foreign language requirement. He should still verify with the adviser for the IR major.
IR and Macro economics is a fantastic combination btw (not that you asked), or IR and econometrics. If your son is maxing out on languages, why not explore some of the more quantitative aspects of econ in addition to IR?
@blossom Yes – thanks – he is definitely emphasizing quantitative/big data/stats – that is why he chose CMU over other options. Unfortunately CMU doesn’t let one set math courses until one takes a math placement test the week before school starts – so this is another unknown in his schedule.
It sounds like they use a fairly weak placement exam that doesn’t place beyond basic intro and elementary language skills. Some exams differentiate between 300 levelling/comp/conversation level classes and 400 level or bump to an OPI for appropriate placement.