<p>I want to join the FBI special agent division and they need you to major in either accounting, computer info, pre-law, languages, or diversified (requires more work) I am interested in the language part of it. I am learning Farsi now as a sophomore (high school) And I also want to learn Arabic by the time I apply for the FBI.</p>
<p>1.) Should I major in Arabic? There's only about 30 colleges that have Arabic Language and none I'm overly interested in.
2.) Should I double major in something? I want to learn Arabic but also major in something else cooler, such as Forensics...or anything else kinda cool
3.) Should I major in some other language or another FBI preresiquite and then minor in Arabic? Or just choose another major overall.</p>
<p>Obviously the FBI would be interested in someone who speaks Arabic fluently, but it might help to have an understanding of the culture as well, so you might be looking for a Middle Eastern or Islamic studies major as well. The obvious place to start is Harvard, but there are other options as well, such as Brandeis or Michigan.</p>
<p>Getting in the FBI is not easy, the physical requirements are pretty intense as well, plus psychological tests and background checks, so you also need to consider what your career path would be if you don’t make it. </p>
<p>What are your academic stats? Most Ivy League colleges and elite flagship universities offer Arabic, but you need to qualify academically. I’m amazed that there are as few as you indicated. You’ll find lots of people bashing Humanities on sites like this, but I think that foreign language study can be one of the best disciplines to master for any career: it opens your mind in a way that nothing else does, and compels you to think differently. I’d say that Georgetown School of Foreign Service would be an excellent target school, if you qualify academically. </p>
<p>You don’t need to major in Arabic to learn it. Middle Eastern studies is an obvious alternate choice. Or you could major in anything else and minor in Middle Eastern studies or Arabic.</p>
<p>You may, though, want to investigate schools with solid study abroad or exchange programs in the Middle East - or look up programs that are accepted at a lot of schools, like CIEE, IES, and SIT.</p>
<p>Join the military and go to the Presidio. Then they can have you do practical usage of the language in more of an immersion setting. (whether assignment to an Arabic-speaking country or listening to recordings or broadcasts in Arabic). You will also enhance your chances of getting into the FBI with some military background. It turns out the best language schools are not even in a college.</p>
<p>I’d just like to add to what Torveaux says above without the focus on the military language schools. Once you’re employed, government agencies including the Dept. of State, FBI, CIA, and NSA are more than happy to have their employees learn new languages. There will be no absence of opportunities to branch out to Pashto, Punjabi, Hindi, Urdu, Mandarin, and on and on if you remain interested in Asian languages. They will do that by immersion in the language and culture. So it’s not the particular language that matters so much in your getting hired. What you want to present to an employer such as the FBI is an ability to learn languages other than your mother or father’s. So it’s a skillset the employer wants to see, even though they undoubtedly have a need for Arabic speakers right now. When you go to college, continue to learn HOW to learn a language other than your own. Concentrate on the process one uses to pick up another language. And spend months immersing yourself in the countries and cultures where that language is spoken, whatever language that is.</p>
<p>Before you go to college, do everything you can to become as proficient in Farsi as possible. What most people find is that multiple language fluency is harder to come by the older they get. If you learn well Farsi NOW when you’re still relatively young, you will find that picking up a totally different language like Arabic isn’t so very hard. Take every opportunity to hear and speak Farsi NOW. Immerse yourself as much as you can. Find a Persian community nearby (ask your teacher), introduce yourself to them, and tell them you want to learn about the people who speak Farsi, their history and culture, and their language. You need to make the most of any outside-the-classroom speaking opportunities in your area. The better you get at Farsi today, the easier you will learn Arabic and any other languages the rest of your life.</p>
<p>As a graduate of the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, I’d second that option. The military will not only get you trained and some real world experience, but you will likely finish with several levels of Security Clearances that will help. No better training in the world than DLI…But if you aren’t interested in that, consider Middlebury. Expensive but respected.</p>
<p>Is it the case, @stanatedj, that the military chose you for language school? how did they identify you as someone who would do well at DLI? This is relevant to the original post because DLI is one very good recourse to the student interested in learning arabic.</p>
<p>“Is it the case, @stanatedj, that the military chose you for language school? how did they identify you as someone who would do well at DLI? This is relevant to the original post because DLI is one very good recourse to the student interested in learning arabic.”</p>
<p>I was actually midway through joining the Air Force to become an intelligence analyst and the recruiter brought up being a Linguist. I was very intrigued and researched it A LOT. Arabic usually means about 14-18 months at Presidio of Monterey followed by 3-6 months in a ‘special’ school where you learn more about the military language you will need to know. As a standard enlistment is 4 years, you then have about 2 1/2 years of service. You will likely graduate with an Associate’s degree and about 27 hours of college credit in your language (Don’t quote me on that but it is approximately accurate as it has been 20 years since I got out). </p>
<p>Typically you have to sign on to be a linguist in whatever language they want you to learn, but given current world climates, I’d say there is about a 100 percent chance of getting Arabic if that is what you want. In my day it was Russian or Korean…Now it is Arabic for almost all and a few that want something else get to go there. </p>
<p>The testing is unique. You sign up to be a linguist and during basic training you take a test that is on a gibberish language that is made up. You then get to voice your desire and the military gets to try to match the best qualified people to the languages they would do best in. There is almost no way in the world to ‘prepare’ for that test as it is something that is so different. The only thing I can think of that might help is if you are musical as I always thought there was a bit of correlation between that and learning to play an instrument. In my case, I became a Russian linguist and lived overseas for 2 years and back in the DC area at an agency not to be named for about 2 years as I extended just a bit for the experience and besides, it was one of the best jobs I ever had in terms of being interesting.</p>
<p>That has been 20 years ago, so you might need to talk to a recruiter. Still, for me it was a great experience. During my last two years, I started working with databases and that is how I ultimately became a computer programmer, but I had the chance to stay at that agency as a civilian or go to school or whatever. </p>
<p>It is the military and that is not for everyone…There are days that are not that great and if you go into the Army/Marines, I would think there would be days that are REALLY bad right now, although as we are pulling out of Afghanistan, I imagine it is a bit less so. If you are reasonably smart, I’d check out the Air Force and Navy first if you are not a gung ho military type. My job was basically a desk job for the entire time and other than doing shift work I loved it.</p>
<p>Thank you for all this great information. You leave me with the impression that your selection by the military was a matter of chance rather than a choice made by you at the outset (such as the case with OP). It sounds like a great way to learn another language except for the part about having to follow orders and not being able to choose your own direction . :-? Thank you for your story and your service to the country.</p>