<p>As you may have seen from a couple of my other posts on here, my plan is to take Russian and hopefully major in it (along with government). Today my parents and I were talking about which classes I will take, and they seemed happy with every class I'm interested in...except Russian. They expect me to continue studying Spanish (which I've been studying for five years) because they think it's the only useful foreign language. Personally, I've been wanting to study Russian for quite a while, and now I finally have the chance to take classes in fields that weren't offered in high school. As far as my post-college future goes, I would like to get a Master's degree in international relations and find work that has something to do with politics/government and Russia or one of the former Soviet nations. However, my parents don't understand this idea of diving into a new and strange field. They think it will be difficult for me to learn Russian because, as they put it, I don't already have a "base" in it. I then asked them if I could any of the other languages offered by my college, and they told me that Spanish is my only option.</p>
<p>What should I do? I really want to try out new academic fields in college, including Russian, but my parents don't understand this concept of exploring my interests as well as finding new ones. They're only willing to pay for classes that I have had previous experience in or that they think are useful/will give me a huge salary.</p>
<p>I mean if they’re paying for it, they may give you the ultimatum but you really need to do what’s going to make you happy. I never understood parents who want to live their lives through their children (no offense). They should just let you explore and let you live.</p>
<p>Taking a few more college classes in Spanish probably won’t help you become closer to fluent. If you have an interest in Russian and plan to work with Russians or in Russia, then go for that. The best way to learn a language is immersion, so get your “base” and then travel! :)</p>
<p>The usefulness of a language is all relevant. People try to argue that Chinese is the most useful, but how is it going to help if you plan to live in Argentina? </p>
<p>Since your career plan takes you into Eastern Europe, one of those languages is really the best. Besides, you’ve already signed up for the class, and as Sparkles said, the Spanish classes aren’t going to help you become fluent. If they keep insisting, you can always take two languages, right?</p>
<p>I don’t officially register for classes until orientation, which is the week before classes start at my school. My parents aren’t going to be there when I register, so I could sign up for Russian anyway, but they would eventually have to find out and probably be displeased.</p>
<p>I don’t want to take two languages in my first year because I want to spend that time exploring a variety of fields.</p>
<p>If this is going to be a major problem all through college you either need to sit down and have a serious, mature, conversation about it with your parents or find your own way to pay for school. College is about your interests and your career, not your parents. I don’t care if parents are offering to pay- it’s selfish for parents to expect their children to follow a certain career path. </p>
<p>It sounds like you have a really awesome career path figured out, by the way! You’re way ahead of a lot of students already. I say do whatever you need to do to go for it. Don’t do something you’ll regret just because you’re afraid of disappointing your parents. If everyone had to pursue the career their parents want them to do our colleges would probably be pretty empty, lol.</p>
<p>October47, I do think this will be a problem throughout college. This morning, my mom asked me why, as a government major, I’m taking only one government class during my first semester of college. It’s like I don’t have four years to go to college and complete my major.</p>
<p>Lately, my parents have been showing more interest in me obtaining “conventional success” – things they can brag about to their friends and family. Under no definition of “conventional success” will knowing Russian impress people, whereas knowing Spanish will obviously allow you to easily find a job, making it easier to be successful. (Sorry if I didn’t explain that well.) Also, outside of requirements for majors, my school has an open curriculum and my parents are having a hard time understanding that I can basically take whatever classes I feel like taking.</p>
<p>Maybe they’re just a little not up-to-date with how college life is? You should talk with them about it some and try to get them to understand the freedom you have with college and career choices. If not then I would rather pay my own way through college than follow whatever career my parents think they can “make” me follow. You are an adult now. You should be able to make these choices on your own.</p>
<p>P.S.: I think knowing Russian would be really impressive! Who wouldn’t want to tell everyone their kid learned Russian? Just anyone can have a kid who learned Spanish in high school or through a couple of college courses, but not everyone has a kid who’s brave enough to go off and fluently learn such a hard language. Who in their right mind wouldn’t be proud of that?</p>
<p>I agree that Spanish is the more accessible and therefore more learned and less “wow!” language, but for my parents it’s more about taking the smart, safe route than trying something different. Like I said, they think I’ll do poorly in Russian because I don’t already have a “base” in the language. And of course, when you ask a group of people what they think the most “marketable” foreign language is, you’ll probably have more people say Spanish than you will Russian.</p>
<p>My parents (particularly my mom) think that as long as they’re paying for me to go to college, they can have the final say in what courses I take. I really don’t have the financial resources to pay my way through college and I’ve already received my official financial aid award for this school year.</p>
<p>My D is planning on the same career path. I would show your parents the government websites that talk about careers and what they look for in applicants. You won’t have a bad time learning Russian, since you are already used to learning another language, and are obviously interested and have an “ear” for them. French is a language widely used in other countries, so if they really insist, I would switch to French. Spanish is great if you want to work in South America, or here in the US, but it’s not really so crucial in Europe or Asia. Do your research about languages the government is recruiting for, and your parents will see that you are gearing your studies toward a very rewarding career. If your parents want things they can brag about, tell them to go do something they can brag about, it’s not up to you to do that for them! Good luck!</p>
<p>I have been seriously considering taking French classes during my second year of college along with Russian classes, just because I want to learn French but don’t want to study it as deeply as I do Russian. :)</p>
<p>I’ve done the research on what careers can be had with a knowledge of Russian, why Russia is becoming increasingly important, etc., but my mom automatically thinks “communists”.</p>
<p>Part of the real life curriculum that occurs in college is this course, for no credit: “Disappointing Your Parents By Doing What You Value.”</p>
<p>It’s in the same field of study as these other fine courses: “Learning How To Deal With Bureaucracy On Your Own”, “How To Manage Personal Freedom For The First Time”, and “Running Out of Money: How To Cope.”</p>
<p>What I mean is that as some point you will start making your own significant life decisions knowing that your parents will disapprove of your choices, even when you know it’s the right thing for you to do.</p>
<p>Talk things through with your school guidance people to test out your approach and rationale, then make the decision that you think is best for you.</p>
<p>P.S. Your parents are wrong about backgrounds fot foreign languages; the best “base” for a foreign language is already learning one. I was able to pick up some Hungarian when traveling there because I’d already learned how to learn other languages. The more the better!!!</p>
<p>Have you considered other options besides language <em>classes</em>? there are sometimes language living-learning communities (sometimes called a Spanish House or La Casa de… [algo]). or a language lunch hour where you sit with other Spanish students and maybe a professor and speak only Spanish. there may be a Spanish club or study abroad opportunity - all of these are other options as opposed to classes that an intermediate speaker could use to maintain or gain their fluency.</p>
<p>CKG - Part of the reason I want to learn Russian is because of the interesting factor. I think my dad is beginning to see that, but my mom is still all about perceived practicality.</p>
<p>Kei-o-lei - Personally, I have no problem with potentially disappointing my parents via not doing as they wish. But my parents think <em>elementary</em> Russian is going to be crazy hard and filled with people who already know the language. Also, they see no point to me learning more languages since I already know three, and students from non-Anglophone countries are learning English, so “why should I learn their language when they already know mine?”</p>
<p>BelleNiente - I’ll show my parents that list; thanks for sharing!</p>
<p>If you’re really that passionate about learning Russian you could maybe suggest to your mom that she lets you take the intro class your first year, and you can continue on with Spanish next semester or sophomore year. Since you’ve been taking it for 5 years I’m assuming you’ll be placed into a higher spanish class instead of a sequence intro class though.</p>