<p>I saw that the University of Delaware and St. Lawrence University both have a major for someone who wants to focus on three languages for their major. I would love to know if there is actually another major like Multi-language or The three language major that would allow me to do the same thing. Do student designed majors at top universities allow a student to do this? Comparative literature...?Modern languages??
I am interested in Spanish, German, Japanese, Chinese, and maybe French(Do no find it to be my favorite)
I really need to narrow down colleges because I am applying soon. I just do not understand why UClA, Berkeley, Santa Barbara, UMichigan,....why they do not offer a major like this...I find it weird.
Also, I saw the university of Pennsylvania has a dual asian language major...where you can choose let's say : Japanese and chinese as focus languages yet you major in eats asian languages.
I saw occidental college has a group major, but they do not have many languages and there are not a lot of choices here.
Does anyone have any information on majors, universities...???
Thank you so much in advance!!!</p>
<p>I would love it if I could stay in California, I mean, CA has great universities, I would not want to go to Delaware and end up witching my major to something offered at a university in CA(UCLA, UCSB, Berkeley...)</p>
<p>It’s no where near California, but Beloit College has a major in Modern Languages. The catalog describes it as: </p>
<p>“The modern languages major is
designed for students who are more
language-oriented than literature-oriented.
It is highly desirable for students
interested in international communications.
For this major, a student draws
up a comprehensive plan of studies that
will include specific academic goals.
The plan must be submitted to the
department of modern languages and
literatures for approval and be officially
accepted before the student may declare
the major.”</p>
<p>The minimum requirements are:</p>
<p>"1. Eleven departmental units:
a. Six units from either French,
German, or Spanish at the 200-
level or above; or Chinese,
Japanese, and Russian from 110
or above. Courses must be taught
in the principal language and must
include:
One unit of civilization/culture.
One unit of advanced composition
or stylistics.
One unit of literature.
b. Five units in no more than two
modern foreign languages other
than the one chosen under 1.a.,
above.
Supporting course (1 unit):
a. One relevant non-departmental
course chosen in consultation
with the advisor."</p>
<p>Plus a semester of study abroad, and (recommended) living for at least a semester in one of the language houses on campus. The languages offered are Chinese, French, German, Japanese, Russian, and Spanish. Beloit also has an extensive summer immersion language program in Chinese, Japanese, Russian, and Arabic.</p>
<p>And FWIW, Beloit is also one of the “Colleges that Change Lives.”</p>
<p>Whoa, time out! Middlebury Language Schools (MLS) is a summer program of intensive language instruction. It’s open to applicants from anywhere, not just Middlebury College, and it has little relevance to the OP’s question.</p>
<p>Apart from MLS, Middlebury College is known for being very strong in foreign languages, and offers a broader array of languages than most LACs. But I don’t see a multi-language major listed among their major options.</p>
<p>
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<p>Probably because there’s not a lot of demand for it. I don’t know about the other schools you mention, but at Michigan it would be relatively easy to design your own major thought either the Bachelor in General Studies degree (BGS), or through the Individual Concentration Program (ICP). In either case you work with a faculty adviser to design your own curriculum. The BGS degree generally requires that you earn a standard 120 course credits toward graduation, with no more than 20 credits in any single department counting toward that total; and that at least 60 credits be in upper-level courses. But I should think five 4-credit courses in each of 3 languages, half of them at an advanced level, would easily satisfy that requirement. (And note that there’s nothing to stop you from taking even more courses in any language; they just can’t count toward your 120-unit graduation minimum). The ICP has even fewer rules: basically, you just need to come up with an interdisciplinary major and get it approved by the ICP adviser and ICP committee, and develop and execute an interdisciplinary senior project.</p>
<p>I believe quite a few colleges have similar kinds of “design your own major” options.</p>
<p>I don’t know if you’re going to find a ranking of “best”, but a school worth looking at is Kalamazoo in Michigan. A small LAC, something like 90% of its students spend time studying abroad, one of the highest percentages in the country from what I’ve been told.</p>
<p>Do you already have a strong foundation in at least 1 foreign language?
If not, a “3 language major” may be biting off more than you can chew, especially in challenging languages like Chinese and Japanese. That is one reason you aren’t seeing it offered at many schools.</p>
<p>Are you more interested in linguistics (the scientific study of language structure and use) or in foreign civilizations (history, comparative literature, etc.)? In a liberal arts curriculum, language-related majors usually focus on one or the other. You may experience at least as much emphasis on theory (phonology/syntax/semantics, historiography, literary criticism, etc.) as there is on practice (developing language proficiency).</p>
<p>A school that I know of (that typically isn’t mentioned here on CC) that has a great study abroad program and strong language programs in multiple languages is Concordia College in Moorhead, MN. Yeah, it’s very cold there in winter, but if you can deal with that, you may want to look at it.</p>