<p>First, I wasn't really sure where to put this (new to the site), so I'm sorry if I put this in the wrong section.</p>
<p>Is a major a lot better than a minor in a foreign language? I'd like to just minor in Spanish if I could become fluent doing that, or at least very proficient. If majoring in it would really help me become fluent, I would double major with Spanish as one of my majors, but I don't have any college credits going into college, so I would have to have a very full course if I chose to double major and graduate in four year.</p>
<p>You don’t necessarily gain fluency from getting a degree in a language. If you want to be fluent take the necessary language classes to study abroad in the country that speaks that language if possible, then study abroad there, if you can work that in your schedule and finances of course. The combination of the level you need to go there, and the immersion should get you well on your way to fluency.</p>
<p>I do understand that I won’t gain fluency by just getting a degree - While studying abroad probably isn’t on the table (though I would definitely go if the opportunity arises), I’m planning on doing as many things as I can to learn the language: joining Spanish club and a study group, reading Spanish literature and watching TV in Spanish. I know it’s not the most effective way of learning a language, but it’s the best I can do with the resources I’ll have.</p>
<p>Common sense tells me I’ll learn more with a major than with a minor, but I guess I was just wondering if maybe there’s a certain point where you learn enough of a language so that you can <em>effectively</em> teach yourself without having to take classes. (I mean, I guess you could teach yourself from scratch, but I can imagine that not having a proper teacher during the early stages of learning a language could create quite a few problems.)</p>
<p>With Spanish, I think you can become proficient if you actually study hard enough. Spanish is pretty easy so it shouldn’t take long depending on how much effort you put in.</p>