<p>I'm currently a sophomore linguistics major and will be over halfway done with my major by the end of this year. I am very interested in syntax and would enjoy researching and doing an honors thesis on something in this field my senior year. So with all those plans, I have about ohhhhh 10 free elective spots. I've looked through other majors and minors and have tried out some courses, but there isn't really anything I'd enjoy enough to commit to as a major or minor. Well, other than a foreign language, but I'm kind of a self-studier with foreign languages, so I'd rather dabble in them than commit myself to any particular one. So basically, I came up with a way to use my ten extra spaces to take German, Italian, Russian, and Romanian (starting with advanced courses, through the advanced level, through the intermediate level, and through the elementary level, respectively). I have to admit that after linguistics, my main passion is what many people mistake a linguistics major for: learning foreign languages. </p>
<p>Out of prospective careers, I could see myself enjoying translation the most, but other than that, I'm also interested in forensic linguistics, possibly (an attempt at) an academic career, or language documentation. So basically, since i have ten extra courses, does anyone have any advice on what I should do with them? If I can't think of anything, I'm naturally inclined to just take a bunch of foreign languages. But something tells me that this isn't the smartest idea, for whatever reason. So what suggestions do people have? </p>
<p>Note: I would talk to my advisor about this, but she's often really busy and doesn't really make time for advisees. </p>
<p>Anyway, thanks for anyone who can give input.</p>
<p>Have you considered computational linguistics? It is a growing field, and if you have any interest, a computer science minor would benefit you greatly</p>
<p>With 10 courses available you would certainly have a wide range of possibilities:
For translation: I think it would require more advanced knowledge than dabbling in source and target languages, including the cultural context, so that would point to additional language courses, courses in comparative literature (including film), etc.
For language documentation: cultural anthropology (incl. folklore)
For other areas, relevant coursework can be found in: speech & hearing sciences; English (with a focus on linguistics, world English, etc.); rhetoric; communication; psychology; philosophy (with a focus on analytic philosophy); computer science; music (if your school offers an option in audio technology); documentary film (possibly useful for fieldwork in certain areas).</p>
<p>Do you have any plans to study abroad?</p>
<p>I’d go for the broader background, rather than just focusing everything directly on language, whether or not it involves a formal major or minor. Of course, there is nothing that says you have to have a second major or minor that is directly related to your primary major. You can do something in a completely different area. You also could start taking graduate courses.</p>
<p>Zapfino pretty much covered it. Look into courses in psychology, sociology, philosophy, and computer science that are related to linguistic topics. Also, if your school has a cognitive science program, check that out.</p>
<p>I would suggest either formal logic or something in psych like developmental. The interaction between linguistics and formal logic would be cool, as would understanding the physiology of language acquisition/processing.</p>
<p>Hmmm. Good ideas, guys. My boyfriend has to take logic (philosophy major), and I think it’d ease his nerves if I took it with him. I’m really interested in it to start with, too and it would be cool to see how they interact. Unfortunately I’m not that interested in psych, which is weird, I know. And I also dislike the psych department at my school quite a bit. I have looked into computational linguistics and programming, but the way it’s taught at my school (not to sound like I have a problem with everything, just with certain things) is one which I can’t learn from. I’ve taken programming here, and I’m taking a class right now where I basically have to teach myself everything. So that’s something I’d rather pursue on my own, even if it means I don’t get a minor in it. </p>
<p>As for languages and translation, I’m working towards fluency in German, so that’d be my primary source language. The dabbling in other languages was more out of interest and building up my arsenal of languages (something really important to me and which I’m having a hard time doing on my own now that I don’t have as much spare time). And if I were to work up to fluency in another language, I’d definitely want to translate from that language as well. I’m pretty big on self studying languages, so taking classes would just be a boost. I don’t need to take that many languages here, but I’ve been contemplating a joint major in German and Linguistics anyway, so I figured studying another language along with it would work out nicely. </p>
<p>I don’t plan on studying abroad because I’m getting an apartment off campus starting this summer and don’t really want to be away from it for a semester. I might try to study abroad in the summer, though. </p>
<p>Anyhow, enough blabbing. Thanks for all your help.</p>