Dilemma: Double major in College or IPOL

Colleges and Universities A-Z Georgetown University
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<p>Hey all, I realize my post is relevant to the previous one about College vs SFS, but my problem is a very specific one: whether I should stay in the College and double major in Govt and Spanish or transfer to the SFS and do IPOL. I'm a rising sophomore in the College and have to make a decision really soon and I would really really appreciate any feedback!!</p>

<p>I want to focus on IR no matter what - if I stay in the College I would do Govt with a focus in IR. Aside from the extra Econ/Hist requirements of the SFS, is there that much of a difference between Govt (IR) and IPOL? I saw that the classes do overlap.</p>

<p>And most of all: is my major in Spanish really worth something? I mean, if I went to the SFS I could still put "Spanish proficiency" on a resume even if I didn't major in it, right? I love Spanish, but I still don't know if my double major will be worth it.</p>

<p>(It's not really a question of flexibility, because if I major in IPOL + Spanish classes + French which I want to take + Certificate = not much room left over. In the College, my Govt major + Spanish major + Certificate + French = no room left over either. And I definitely want to take French.)</p>

<p>Does it matter? Does it matter if I don't know what I want to do after I graduate? I could go on to law school for all I know. I just think that IR is what I love, so why stay in the College when the SFS such a good, focused program? (Even though I hate Econ)</p>

<p>And also, can Theo/Hist classes double count for Certificates and General Requirements?</p>

<p>I apologize for the length! I would appreciate any suggestions at all; thanks in advance! :)</p>

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<p>You don't need to officially major or minor in Spanish to become fluent in it; fluency is a personal thing. If you want to do professional work in the language, however, like translation or teaching, then I'd recommend a double major with Spanish. However, it sounds like you just want to be able to speak Spanish.</p>

<p>How about you major in IPOL and persue a certificate in European Studies? The ES certificate requires six courses, plus proficiency in a major European language (such as Spanish OR French). </p>

<p>Look at the SFS Core requirements and Major requirements and Certificate requirements; compare and contrast these with the classes you have already taken to make sure you can graduate on time.</p>

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<p>I have a similar question. I'm a rising freshman in the College (FLL) and I think I want to double major in Government (with an IR focus) and Spanish. I also want to minor in Arabic. Is this feasible?</p>

<p>The only reason I am considering the Gov't major is because I ultimately want to be an interpreter and I've been told that to do that, I'd need more than just a language major.</p>

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<p>Being an interpreter has become such a fashionable profession since Nicole Kidman started doing it. Haha. Anyway, it requires a near-native grasp of the language to translate with original verity and nuance. Simply majoring or minoring in something is not enough; you might want to get your master's, live abroad for a long period of time, etc if it's something you want. </p>

<p>The Interpreter made many linguists angry because it portrayed so much of their profession incorrectly. First of all, interpreters (vocalized translation, either consecutive or with a delay) and translaters (written translations of texts and speeches) typically have an A, B, and C language, determined by how well you know them. A is almost always your native tongue and B and C are learned. Part of translation "ethics" is that you promise to only translate/interpret into your A language, because into the others languages can be unwieldy or incorrect based on subtle features of the language. </p>

<p>Do you have any Spanish experience? Majoring in Spanish will be easier for you, obviously, if you're coming in with AP credits. If you don't have any, it will be hard to get to the level of your peers, who will have been studying Spanish for four years already. </p>

<p>And a minor in Arabic, honestly, isn't going to do much for you. You won't gain fluency or probably even proficiency from four or five courses. Besides, Modern Standard Arabic is taught at universities; MSA is only used in very formal circumstances and in the media. To actually communicate with people, you have to have knowledge of the colliquial tongues of the area. For example, Arabic in Syria, Lebanon and Jordan is called Levantine Arabic; Arabic in Saudia Arabia is called Gulf Arabic. And they differ greatly. I'm an Arabic speaker myself (my family's from Syria) and I can't understand people if they're not from Syria; my father, a native Arabic speaker, can sometimes only get the grasp of African or Gulf Arabic. If you want to learn Arabic to actually be able to use it, learn it WELL. A minor won't do anything more than introduce the language to you. </p>

<p>If you have real interest in interpreting, look up some articles on Wikipedia about translation and translaters. Ultimately, a working knowledge of the craft of translation, is sometimes more useful than the simple quantity of foreign languages in which you are fluent. Many universities (more European, I've noticed) actually offer graduate degrees in just translation. </p>

<p>And as someone stated earlier, the best foreign language and translating school in the US is the Defense Language Institute in Monterey. It's where the State Department, CIA, etc. train their polyglots. (Also a distinction worth knowing: a polyglot is someone who speaks many languages. A linguist is someone who studies linguistuics).</p>

<p>I'm really rambling on, sorry. Haha. I know an interpreter, so I get these kinds of explanations a lot.</p>

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<p>yougotjohn, I read an article related to the issue of teaching Arabic in colleges (maybe the NYT?). It said that positions in the State Dept and the CIA are left unfilled because they need those fluent in colloquial Arabic, but those who understand colloquial Arabic or dialects often have (benign) connections to the Middle East that make it impossible to get past preliminary screenings. On the other hand, college graduates who might have minored in Arabic and are proficient in classrooms are utterly useless in the field.</p>

<p>Does anyone know if schools (Georgetown in particular) are doing anything to better prepare students for learning Arabic in a way that would actually be useful?</p>

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<p>QuickLikeCat: Weirdest coincidence, I just read that article, haha. It's right here if anyone wants to read it, too. ( <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13392191/site/newsweek/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13392191/site/newsweek/&lt;/a> ) </p>

<p>I'm not trying to imply that Arabic is such a mystifying language that you can't learn it academically. It's like anything, it can be learned with enough commitment and practice. I'm just saying that if you want to learn or even be able to use Arabic, a minor isn't going to be helpful at all, so don't begin on the path unless you want to finish. Major in it.</p>

<p>Wild, a number of universities have reknown Arabic departments (among these, University of Pennsylvania, University of Michigan, Harvard, Georgetown, University of Chicago...a number of others I can't remember; does someone have a ranking?). Studying abroad combined with programs like these does produce Arabic speakers. For a number of reason, though, an education in Arabic just doesn't come to fruition: the steep learning curve is discouraging to students, it's not very useful in average careers, studying abroad in the Middle East can be complicated to arrange and many see the region as dangerous. </p>

<p>A lot of schools are also starting to include classes in dialects. Almost all top Arabic schools have classes in the Egyptian dialect, one of the most popular due to Cairo's movie industry. I think Michigan has classes in Levantine. </p>

<p>Anyway, I think I strayed the point, sorry. Haha.</p>

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<p>Government Major = 10 courses. 3 of which are included in the SFS core. No more than 4 of the 6 remaining elective courses can be from any given subfield (in your case, IR...though obviously you can take as many IR courses as you want outside of your major)...The other subfields that you are REQUIRED to take courses out of are political theory, comparative government and American government. </p>

<p>IPOL Major = 10 courses. All of which are taken in subfields of IR, no courses on domestic politics.</p>

<p>Depending on how much of your freshman year would fulfill the SFS core, you could be fairly far behind on your major and that may cause a problem if you really want to learn enough French to make it worth knowing. (ie, at least two and half or three years)...and don't forget, you have to take two full years of econ at least and if you hate it that much, that is a problem.</p>

<p>It doesn't matter if you major in Spanish if you're only doing it to prove you're fluent.. If you are fluent in a language, you can indicate that in the skills section of your resume. I believe your proficiency exam score also appears on your transcript.</p>

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<p>Thanks all for your feedback!</p>

<p>I'll be fine in terms of fulfilling SFS core requirements + IPOL + Spanish + French, only I won't have much room left over at all. If I study abroad, I'll have more space, but not very much. It's a little more (like 2 classes more) if I stay in the College and double major. And I took Micro and Macroecon my freshman year, so I basically need to take PST, Map, History, I Trade, I Finance.</p>

<p>I'm not very interested in US politics, and I feel, why take US Political Systems and other domestic stuff when what I want is foreign policy stuff? Still, it's a trade-off between the more Econ and not being able to say I majored in Spanish as well. I spoke Spanish at home all my life so I'm closer to fluency in that sense, but I still have a LOT to improve on and want to take as many Spanish classes as I can. </p>

<p>Essentially I think it's between the extra Spanish and the more focused IR classes...the question is whether I should go for JUST the IR major, or do the Govt and have the Spanish. What do you all think? What do SFS graduates do after graduation? Is there a typical career path? Is there really a difference between Govt and IPOL in the end?</p>

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<p>yougotjohn, believe me, I know how fashionable a profession it has become. I'm usually too embarrassed to admit I want to do it because people assume all I know about it I learned from the movie (no offense, haha). I do have AP credit for Spanish, so I'll be entering one of the upper level courses. I am hoping that will make the double major easier.</p>

<p>And thanks for the info on Arabic. Perhaps I will only minor in it if I enjoy it enough to take it for 6 semesters.</p>

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<p>By the way, is the school you mentioned the same as the Monterey Institute of Int'l Studies? That's the one I've been looking into.</p>

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<p>clurvk, you realize that the SFS core requires three history classes, right?</p>

<p>If the only reason you are staying in the College is to major in Spanish, then maybe you should think about what you want out of spanish. It sounds like you're basically decided that you want to do IR stuff and not US politics stuff. The next question is, do you want to be a spanish major because it proves to everyone you are fluent or do you want to be a spanish major because you enjoy learning about the literature and linguistics and such of the spanish language? If having the piece of paper that says that you majored in Spanish is THAT important to you, then stay in the college and double major. If you just really want to take upper level spanish literature classes, then stay in the SFS and take them as electives. </p>

<p>There is no typical career path for the SFS...pretty much whatever you want, but anything good is going to involve grad school.</p>

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<p>SFS has 17 core classes and each major has 10 required electives. It's a lot to schedule. Good luck.</p>