Languages

<p>Hi all, I am a second year at UVA, and I'm majoring in Spanish. Is it a good idea to just major in one thing? I'm pretty sure I can get really high grades...which is good. I also was wondering what you guys thought of taking multiple languages. Like this year I'm taking Portuguese, and next semester I'm gonna start taking French and I'm going to the summer language institute to take Italian. Any suggestions on how law schools view this!! Thanks!</p>

<p>You try to think of some linguistics classes (major or minor) or throwing in international studies as a major. That'll give you a great excuse to go abroad all the time.</p>

<p>thanks...any other responses!</p>

<p>Latin can be helpful for law (and the Romance languages, particularly Italian- but you knew this already).</p>

<p>As to whether or not it's a good idea to major in one thing, it depends on many factors.</p>

<p>...is how long a law school admissions officer will spend reading your application in most cases. While some law schools have different procedures, many of them have one person (admissions dean) who will read over every app once and make an initial determination. That ten minutes includes resume, cover letter, personal statement, and recommendations.</p>

<p>Given that, do you really think that someone would notice which languages you are taking? </p>

<p>Latin is very helpful for law - you'll be familiar with the terminology, but, as everyone picks it up quickly, it's not necessary. IMO, the largest benefit to foreign language training is for statutory construction. So a foreign language might offer some benefit (relatively small) at law school, but it probably won't do much to get you through the door. It might help when you are applying for jobs in certain areas, such as international law or immigration law.</p>

<p>Just my opinion...</p>

<p>Becoming fluent in ONE language, to perfection, versus dabbling to learn four languages --and not becoming fluent in any one of these. It's your choice, but I'd be most impressed with seriousness of purpose. And I can guarantee you will not become fluent in all four languages before law school.</p>

<p>thanks for all your comments, by the way I'm a fluent speaker of Spanish, and Portuguese is very similar, so I can def. become fluent in that. I think that besides that I'm gonna just stick to French and get really good at it instead of trying to take Italian and get confused!</p>

<p>Spanish and Portuguese is a good combination. I don't see french fitting in there; in my opinion italian is a better match for the former two.</p>

<p>But, still, I can guarantee you that chasing two rabbits at the same time will get you a hungry stomach --not two rabbits.</p>

<p>hahah!!!! you're soooo right!</p>

<p>Frech relates rather closely to Italian, as does Spanish. Portugese relates rather closely to both, too. Do what you feel you'd like more. You have to mix mastery with breadth of knowledge. Some people hardly know one language, whereas some know 11 really well. Most people are in between these two extremes.</p>

<p>"Frech relates rather closely to Italian, as does Spanish. Portugese relates rather closely to both, too."</p>

<p>Really? Of course they do, as they are all romance languages -Latin based.</p>

<p>"Do what you feel you'd like more."</p>

<p>For the purpose of...? Personal Satisfaction? Practicality? Professional advancement? Be more clear.</p>

<p>"You have to mix mastery with breadth of knowledge."</p>

<p>And you are stating that one could not do that by studying one language only??? If so, you are completely wrong.</p>

<p>"Some people hardly know one language, whereas some know 11 really well."</p>

<p>Please, name how many people you know personally know eleven languages really well. Please do. I have not met the first person to master eleven languages with native proficiency.</p>

<p>"Most people are in between these two extremes."</p>

<p>So...most people speak 4 to 6 languages? Really?</p>

<p>I hope this isn't off topic, but what majors are recommended for those pursuing law school?</p>

<p>it is off topic...umm, anyway, The former Pope knew many many languages, I'm not sure if he knew them fluently. I just feel that since almost at every school they have a language requirement, that is producing a lot of bilingual speakers, in mostly Spanish and English. I feel that nowadays, being bilingual is not enough and if you want the upper hand in a job or whatever, three or more languages will set you apart. Portuguese and Spanish share 87% of all words (meaning as an fluent speaker in either could recognize the word in the other language) The Portuguese pronunciation is more related to French. At UVA, we have the dept of Spanish/Italian/Portuguese and French is a whole different dept, I dont know if this is due to the fact that those three are most closely related.</p>

<p>Trying a little diplomacy here...</p>

<p>Jaimie - if you make your own thread about this, and include pertinent info about yourself, you'll get a bunch of good replies.</p>

<p>Languages: Geez guys. First of all, I seriously doubt that law schools care too much about the language thing - GPA and LSAT are so important by themselves. </p>

<p>Re: number of languages. I went to one of the best universities for foreign language rigor and study abroad... and know very few truly bilingual people (native English speakers who are bilingual - know a ton of people who were born in other countries or who have such close ties with other countries that they became bilingual as children). Most of those who are studied abroad for at least a semester. Even four or five or six semseters of a foreign language is not enough to make you fluent! </p>

<p>You can, for yourself, decide if you would prefer to know many languages or to obtain fluency in one (or two, if they are very closely related). As for law school, it won't matter. For jobs, one thing matters: fluency. If you state that you are fluent, you might actually have to prove it, on the spot, in an interview. Your choice.</p>

<p>My two cents.</p>

<p>I agree with Aries completely -isn't she lovely?</p>

<p>wmrocks, you are not trying to become the next Pope. Are you? If so, you do not need a law degree, but the many languages may help:D.</p>

<p>Well, Wildflower, yes, they are all Latin based languages. However, there is more to it than this. Romanian is a Romance language as well. However, I’ve yet to hear a linguist or a knower of Romanian to say that it relates more closely to Spanish, French, Italian, or Portuguese than Spanish, French, Italian, or Portuguese. It actually relates closely to Russian. This is what I mean by my statement about the relationships between the languages.</p>

<p>As to, “Do what you feel you'd like more," He should do what he likes most for personal satisfaction. </p>

<p>
[quote]

“And you are stating that one could not do that by studying one language only??? If so, you are completely wrong.”

[/quote]
</p>

<p>What do you mean by this? Be clearer.</p>

<p>"Some people hardly know one language, whereas some know 11 really well."</p>

<p>Did I say I know any person who knows so many languages? No, I said that it is possible for people to know that many, or more, or that I know of them. A famous language teacher recently (as in over the past year) died and his obituary was in the paper. That is where I got the number 11. How about this guy? <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4296273,00.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4296273,00.html&lt;/a>
Would you like other proof? Search the internet.</p>

<p>"Most people are in between these two extremes."</p>

<p>So...most people speak 4 to 6 languages? Really?</p>

<p>You keep pretending that I’m saying things that I’m not. Did I say that there is a bell curve? Did I say that most people are in the direct middle? Are there other places in the middle besides the direct middle? Yeah, most people don’t really learn anything beyond three languages. Then, there are people who know many. These are rarer, but they exist.</p>

<p>I think if law schools have two applicants, one who majored in government and never went abroad and only speaks English and another candidate who's bilingual/trilingual who majored in Foreign Affairs and studied abroad...well they are going to pick the one who has been exposed to other cultures through language.</p>

<p>Possibly... but really, folks, it's all about your GPA and LSAT. If the numbers are there, you're looking good. If not, IMO, a foreign language isn't going to get out of the reject pile. </p>

<p>IMO, it's overly simplistic to look at law school admissions that way - you're still thinking like you're applying to college. When people apply to college, not much separates them: everyone gunning for the top schools has straight As, top SAT scores, a load of APs, and tons of leadership. Something outstanding would help someone distinguish himself -like true fluency in a language. Law school is different. My school only has 1/3 of people who come straight from undergrad. The people who have worked have often done some very interesting things with their lives - social work, acting, engineering - so the presence or lack of a few classes isn't going to make a difference.</p>

<p>I'm an engineer with Attic and Homeric Greek on my transcript. Honestly don't think it helped me much. (Also used to be fluent in French.)</p>

<p>The others on the board can disagree with me, but I just don't think that language makes a big difference when you apply to law school. There are so many other factors to distinguish people - huge differences in the quality of undergrad schools, majors, work experience, and motivation for going to law school that "language" is a blip on the radar screen.</p>