<p>I'm thinking ahead for my 10th grade daughter who is 1st in her class, 710 on the PSAT CR (650 M). And her English teachers and French teacher are bowled over by her talents in these fields. She is exceptional, but she and I are nervous about her career prospects with an English and French double major. Would appreciate your thoughts, thanks!</p>
<p>She doesn’t need to pick a college major in the 10th grade, let alone pick a career.</p>
<p>A person with strong writing, critical reading skills, and fluency in another language can work in global public health (people at the Gates Foundation who monitor the efficacy of their programs in Africa, for example); they can work for the State Department in a wide range of functions; they can work at a global bank; be a journalist for any number of global news gathering organization, etc.</p>
<p>She doesn’t need to major in either French or English although she certainly can- and she absolutely doesn’t need to lock in her entire life in the 10th grade.</p>
<p>One of my kids works in a field which did not exist when he was in HS. (is at a start-up). Kid was a liberal arts major- even though the company is a technology company, they also hire folks who can read, write, and think the way English majors do. Another one of my kids was the classic MIT type nerd who works in a field which is completely non-tech related.</p>
<p>So relax. You have no idea what kinds of jobs will be out there in 10 years, let alone what qualifications will be required. Encourage her to develop a deep curiosity in all kinds of things.</p>
<p>I know several people with similar skills who went into international law. </p>
<p>Follow her interests and talents and the field will emerge. </p>
<p>My French major S decided to go into journalism. As an English major, I had a career in technical and corporate communications. A French major classmate was a presidential speech writer and journalist. Other English majors I know went to law school, became journalists, went to grad school and became English professors, or went to business school and became investment professionals. Another went into corporate PR. Another became a magazine editor. Some, obviously, become teachers of French or English.</p>
<p>The possibilities are endless.</p>
<p>My niece majored in French, Spanish and education (yes, triple major). She was pursued by the head international studies prof who BEGGED her to continue her studies and go into international law, diplomacy, etc. She always wanted to teach, and that is what she does. She’s taught both middle and high school and has since added math to her certifications. Next year she’ll add community college teaching to her resume. Meanwhile she has been to the French-speaking part of Canada with her students for several years running and is planning a trip to France with a group next year. She loves her life. But as others have pointed out with an ability in language, there are many opportunities open to a student like your D.</p>
<p>Such imaginative and interesting replies, thank you! I’m glad I posted and hope there are other creative contributions.</p>
<p>D1 was an English major, she’s now in med school.</p>
<p>When my daughter was your daughter’s age, she wanted to go to a conservatory to study piano. By 11th grade, she was sure she was going to be an English major. In 12th grade, she decided to become a teacher. She’s now a first year in college and is pretty sure she will double major in medieval studies and French, with a minor in music. Oh, and she wants to be a missionary. I have no idea what she will actually end up doing, but she is certainly enjoying the ride, and your daughter will, too. High school is for growing up; college is for getting a well-rounded education and being exposed to things you’d never previously considered.</p>
<p>Your daughter sounds like a fascinating girl! My D also plays the piano, in fact she is playing in a State competition tonight. She, like her sisters, also goes to Chinese school on Saturday mornings. So she can also use her Chinese.</p>
<p>Or she could be like my niece who wanted to teach from the time she was in preschool. Some kids really do have an idea of where they want to go in life from an earlier age. But no mater what, sounds like OP’s D is poised to have many doors open to her as she grows.</p>
<p>I was a French major and am going through a certification process to be able to teach English to adult learners. My niece, also a French major, teaches ESL and GED prep/civics to adult learners. The pay is low and there are no benefits, but it’s an interesting, fulfilling field.I would just say that if she wants to use French professionally, be sure she spends at least a semester (preferably a year) abroad immersed in a French language culture. That’s just about the only way to become truly fluent. If she has the option to live in some kind of international/foreign language dorm housing, take that too. She won’t become fluent by majoring in French in the U.S. I learned that the hard way.</p>
<p>Thank you. Yes, I know she will have to live in France. her father was a “schoolboy” in France for a yr as a 16 yr and has maintained the language, as far as possible, pretty well. her GC told her she might be able to take an online French college courser her senior year and she is excited about that. She likes McGill.</p>
<p>I happen to know a lot of French majors. Two went to law school, and one of those is now a grade school teacher (by choice). One worked at a French telephone company, learned telecommunications, and now works for Qwest. One works at a French law firm (not a lawyer). All are happy they have French majors. One of the lawyers never lived in France, never worked with the French language, just liked it (and I happen to think studying another language improves your English a lot).</p>
<p>There are many careers for a liberal arts major.</p>
<p>Med school, especially if she can add creole to French (creole is very similar to French and spoken by Haitian immigrants, it’s especially important for New York City and areas along the East coast.)
French is widely used in Western Africa and can be very useful if she’s interested in international foundations, development projects, or development economics.
If she’s gifted at languages, she may want to try for a critical language flagship - Bryn Mawr has Russian and a few other universities have other critical languages. These students have to learn intensively and live abroad, but they’re snapped up at graduation.
She can also parlay her major into any profession if she attends an “elite” (connected) college, think Ivy, Nescac, etc.
She may want to attend a Concordia Language camp this summer if you can afford it, or a Middlebury program for HS students if it’s still possible to apply.
Middlebury is the standard bearer for language learning by the way so she may want to look into it.
There are all the diplomacy-related professions - she can check out Georgetown, GWU, American, Tufts.</p>
<p>Oh man, I was an exceptional English and French student in the tenth grade, too. I ended up majoring in psychology. She’s, what - 15, 16? She has plenty of time to change her mind and settle on something else. Strong writing and language skills are valued in a lot of career fields.</p>
<p>I had an RA who majored in French and was interested in food policy; she ended up doing the coursework for licensure as a registered dietitian and is beginning a master’s program in that field soon. You can do a lot of things.</p>
<p>It’s difficult to predict what will be critical languages in 10 years. Most remain pretty stable over time (pretty sure Japanese was a critical language 10 years ago, and it still is now, although in lower demand because there are more speakers), but which ones are “hot” are difficult to predict. In the 1990s it was - maybe Russian? and Japanese. Then it became Arabic, and now Hindi and Chinese (particularly Chinese) are valued. It’s not that Russian and Japanese and Arabic aren’t still critical - Arabic certainly is - but Hindi and Chinese are the “hot” ones now. I only bring this up to encourage your daughter to pursue whichever language SHE find interesting and wonderful, not whatever’s hot.</p>
<p>^juillet,“critical languages” doesn’t mean what languages are “hot” right now, but which languages have been deemed critical by the DoD, Homeland Security, Dept of State. They’re part of the national security education program, like the Boren scholarships. There’s also an African language initiative in Gainesville, which is linked to French.
Critical languages are then hosted in specific flagship and offer a program that is different from the typical language major. Students major in whatever they want (economics, engineering, history, music…) and Students also take classes in their major in the language and study/work abroad as part of their These take place at about 20 institutions over the country, with varying target groups (regional, socio-economic, ethnic, and gender diversity matters.)
<a href=“http://www.thelanguageflagship.org/”>http://www.thelanguageflagship.org/</a>
<a href=“http://www.thelanguageflagship.org/?q=content/undergraduate”>http://www.thelanguageflagship.org/?q=content/undergraduate</a>
These programs are at least as intensive as Middlebury’s and require students who are gifted at language learning.</p>
<p>There are lots of things which can be done with languages, including French and English. </p>
<p>^ This is fascinating. I had no idea such a system existed, @MYOS1634. </p>
<p>Yes, isn’t it fascinating? Myos, thanks for posting. I read it all and told DD yesterday when we took the dog for a walk. She goes to Chinese School on Salturdays like her sisters–has from age 4-- but alas they get no speaking practice… Her writing and reading are good. it would be exciting if she were enthrall end with Chinese… But French is her true love, and English and writing…</p>