<p>Is anyone out there majoring in a foreign language? I would really love to hear from juniors and seniors, but feedback from freshmen and sophomores would also be accepted. I would like to know which foreign language you're majoring in and what do you plan to do with that major after college. Are you going to do an internship in another country? In an international organization? WHich one? Are you going to go into business or law? Maybe even continue learning this foreign language and getting a Ph. D. in it? Perhaps, it would be nice if you could add how you became interested in learning foreign languages. I've heard once in a while that by majoring in a foreign language, you can become a teacher and an editor, etc, but I've never heard anyone talk about their personal experiences or talk in depth about their goals in relation to this major. I think I'm interested in majoring in Italian, but I am not sure. I want to hear what kind of opportunities are out there and I simply just want to hear from people who are majoring in this b/c I'm sick and tired of hearing stories of people who are majoring in something in the sciences. Not that there's anything wrong with them; it's just that I want to learn more about the options out there.</p>
<p>I am a freshmen at UCD majoring in political science and considering doubling in Classical Studies: Languages and Literature track focusing on Latin and Greek. At this point, I want to go to law school and I feel Latin will help me with legal terms and help intoduce me to Roman history, that heavily influenced the western world. Latin also helps with med school and other fields.</p>
<p>Much luck</p>
<p>German is going to be my minor. I always loved the language, and I decided once I got to college I would learn it if I had the opportunity. My German knowledge has DEFINITELY helped me with English, and I can see where it's also helped me in my theology and political science classes. I'm applying to law school next year.</p>
<p>cool. cool for both of u guys</p>
<p>bio_freak,</p>
<p>A language major can be a very useful tool if cultivated properly. For example, many government agencies offer signing bonuses to people with Mandarin or Arabic skills-- upwards of $10K! Furthermore, many graduate programs actually require skill in a second language (mine included.)</p>
<p>I believe, however, that the strength of a language major is best demonstrated when it's paired with another major. Political science and Arabic? Economics and Chinese? Knockouts! You have applicable skills for many jobs, and a great "hook" at interviews and on your resumé.</p>
<p>My story of studying Japanese is a short and somewhat goofy one. I originally wanted to take a Mandarin class to impress my girlfriend's parents. I couldn't get into it, so I instead took Japanese. It has consumed my soul ever since. :p</p>
<p>Unless you want to live in a tent pitched on the lawn of your best friends future home, you might want to pursue a second major in addition to the language major.</p>
<p>lol well, i was thinking of double majoring in international relations and french....</p>
<p>racnna,</p>
<p>Nice bit of hyperbole there, but that's not true. One's major is suprisingly unimportant for a wide array of careers.</p>
<p>I'm a first year at UChicago who is considering majoring in Classics. Specifically, I am interested in Greek and its many dialects, particularly the Aeolic and Doric dialects, lyric poetry, and choral odes. And Liddle and Scott and Smythe are my friends... In terms of language structure and neumanistics, I am largely interested in rules of accentuation, athematic aorists, and sentence structure, namely placement of words.</p>
<p>I hope I didn't scare you. :)</p>
<p>Actually, I do like Greek, but I am not <em>that</em> wild about it. This year, I'm taking Lyric/Epinician Poetry and having a very good time. The prof is wonderful.</p>
<p>But, that said, I may opt for something more practical, like math. Or maybe I'll do both.</p>
<p>I'm doing a Greek and Latin double-major.</p>
<p>i'm not in college yet, but i would really like to study french, spanish, and another language (i'm guessing arabic, but maybe hindi)
i'm going for international relations with a possible specialty in latin america (in which case my last language might be changed)</p>
<p>I'm a sophomore French & Russian major, I've finished up my school's Italian sequence, and I also have experience with a number of other languages (namely, Spanish and German).</p>
<p>I became interested in foreign languages back in high school, when I realized that I was one of the best in my French class without even trying... and then I picked up Italian... and things just snowballed from there.</p>
<p>Majoring in a language + something like Economics or PoliSci? Fantastic idea. Odds are, if you take this path, you'll be doing the sensible thing, the thing that'll get you a nice career and a heck of a lot of money.</p>
<p>I'm not that sensible. I'm horrible at/dislike everything except, well, languages. I don't know what I want to do with my languages and I'm okay with that. By the time I graduate, I'll be fluent in at least three languages (possibly four, depending on whether I spend time in Italy), and my primary languages are all fairly important on an international scale. I'm sure something will come up. If not, I can always TEFL for a few years in, say, Korea, and get another language under my belt.</p>
<p>If Italian is really what you want to study, things WILL work out. I would suggest picking up another language (Spanish, French, and German would all be useful for an Italian major; Arabic, Korean, or anything you hear about on the news would be valuable if you want to do politics) to broaden your opportunities.</p>
<p>yeah japanese?
well im in highschool now
Im in honors spanish 4
taking ap next year
and
this summer im taking japanese at a local community college
and then, my senior year of highschool ill take japanese 3 and 4...</p>
<p>well yeah
how u liking japanese</p>
<p>i already started some self study from some books and love it
but im a language freak...
in college i plan on taking spanish (probably just a few classes(and do an overseas semester in italy and spain)
italian
Japanese(possibly minor in it)
and
if i feel lucky enough
Greek</p>
<p>BIGTWIX,</p>
<p>Are you asking me how I like Japanese? If so, I generally like it.</p>
<p>I'm an East Asian Studies major at Princeton, but I might as well be a Chinese major, if we had that.</p>
<p>I'm not especially good at languages, generally, and that includes Chinese. But I have a professional and personal interest in Chinese history and contemporary China.</p>
<p>Studying a language in college really gives your undergraduate career focus. I highly recommend it.</p>
<p>atmfreak, what is TEFL?</p>
<p>Teaching English as a Foreign Language. Off the top of my head, there are programs in Japan, China, Korea, Russia, France, Germany... and probably a ton of other countries. If you speak English, they want you.</p>
<p>Heck, you don't even need the TEFL for most of the Japanese programs.</p>
<p>How would u get involved with TEFL? Where does one look?...</p>
<p>i was talking with my one of my teachers about me wanting to be a language major
and he said after he graduated college back in the 50's
he was asked to teach english in japan...
but
he turnied it down...
i love languages and want to be able to speak 4-6 of em...
English(duh),spanish (im in honors right now), italian, japanese...and maybe latin or greek</p>
<p>anyway
i told my teacher that
and he said the navy wants people like me(if learn 4 languages+)
and that they have intensive language training camps for militants.
HE said they go for like 16 week periods...but he said that yearly pay for that was 6 digits.
oh
and after college, i plan on going to a Gradschool for Education</p>