Can someone tell me more about linguistics major?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>this is may sound really stupid... what can a person with linguistics major do? what if i don't want to become a translator (that's the first thing to pops into my mind when linguistic is mentioned)?</p>

<p>today my english teacher told me that i should really consider linguistics major. she seemed to really like the comments that i made during a socratic seminar (basically, a group discussion).</p>

<p>i am a junior and want to explore beyond the "asians'" majors (i.e. engineering >.<, med-school, law school, etc). i have been planning to aim for a business major, but i just want to know all my options. </p>

<p>thx.</p>

<p>~Kris</p>

2

<p>I was wondering about this too.</p>

3

<p>linguistics isn't translating languages.</p>

<p>It involves how people say sounds, the evolution of languages, the way language and culture go together, the way language and social class go together, various forms of languages around the world, language families, and all that stuff.</p>

<p>Some of it can be really fascinating... and other parts can be REALLY boring (ie phoentics IMO).</p>

4

<p>Read Choamsky</p>

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<p>chocoman. what you said sounds a lot better than what i perceived linguistic major would be. thx.</p>

<p>thekev. Choamsky?</p>

<p>examples of jobs? good colleges?</p>

6

<p>Linguistics majors work in a variety of fields - It's not just about grammar or learning languages. Best source of information is the Linguistics Society of America <a href="http://www.lsadc.org%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.lsadc.org&lt;/a> - They have a series of articles describing what linguists do and the variety of areas they are involved in - everything from computer science to neuroscience to teaching to working in business. They also have links to linguistics departments. Here's another link that gives a good general overview of what linguistics is all about: <a href="http://www.mwc.edu/enls/lcareers.htm%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.mwc.edu/enls/lcareers.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

7

<p>It's Noam CHOMSKY, not Choamsky.</p>

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<p>Reading this makes me want to be a linguist too</p>

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<p>I've known two linguistic majors. One is a college professor now. The other knew 27 languages (including HITTITE) and is a lawyer.</p>

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<p>wow 27 languages. how can he keep them all separate from each other?</p>

<p>anymore comments/suggestions/misc?</p>

11

<p>There are many overlaps with computer studies--analyzing language structures and also artifical intelligence--communicating with computers via language. There are also applications to clinical problems like aphasia and the effects on language in stroke victims. Linguistics can also involve the study of dying languages that have only a few native speakers left--recording their structures and vocabularies.</p>

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<p>If you're interested in learning a lot of languages, you major in language(s), not linguistics. You don't have to know much about formal linguistics to learn several languages.</p>

<p>For more information on the different meanings (and the "field") of linguistics, you might use your handy Wikipedia: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linguistics%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linguistics&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>