<p>I'm a junior in high school, and I've been heavily researching schools that have great linguistic programs. Though, now I'm not even sure if I should study linguistics, but foreign languages in general. I'm studying French, Spanish and Latin in school, and I've started to learn German, Italian and Japanese on my own, and I want to learn all the languages I possibly can; I just love them, whether they be Sanskrit-based, African-based, Slavic, Romance, Asian, and so on.. I thought linguistics because I thought it would help me when I tried to study say like, Arabic or Russian when I know nothing of them. Is linguistics the right major?</p>
<p>I also want to major in business, if that means anything. I know that my choices are limited with just languages, and I've always been intrigued by the corporate world.</p>
<p>Linguistics will help you to recognize patterns in language and make connections between languages, but it’s not simply the study of foreign languages as most people believe. If you major in linguistics, you’ll learn about syntax (grammar and how words form sentences), phonology (structure of sound), and semantics (meanings of words). You’ll learn how language is processed in the brain and be exposed to different theories about people’s predisposition to language. So it might help you a little bit, but it’s not a comparison of different languages, if that’s what you’re looking for. That being said, it’s an extremely interesting field (I’m minoring in it and will possibly go to grad school to study it) and if you love languages you’ll probably love linguistics.</p>
<p>I love linguistics. But lots of people who are into foreign languages think they’ll enjoy linguistics and then hate it. It’s very theoretical and often appeals to math/science types more than artsy types. I’d recommend getting an introductory linguistics book to see if it really appeals to you before making any kind of commitment.</p>
<p>What major do you think you’d recommend, then? As you can see, I don’t want to particularly want to commit to one language, so that’s why I thought Linguistics would be a good choice… I don’t know now xD</p>
<p>As I said, I think you should get a book on linguistics to see if it’s for you. If it’s not, then committing to one language and combining it with a business degree would be a good choice. But if you don’t want to focus on one language and you end up not liking linguistics then perhaps comparative literature? Otherwise, I’d just do business and keep languages as a hobby.</p>