Question about pursuing things outside of college

<p>As you guys know, I will be attending Hendrix College in Conway, AR next year! I am very excited and the money is wonderful but there is one little thing that bothers me. They do not offer Asian languages. I was just wondering what are the options of learning Vietnamese/Japanese/Chinese etc. outside of the college? Would most people study abroad? Take summer courses? Self teach themselves? Dual enroll with another college etc? Will it be almost impossible for me to pursue this interest outside of Hendrix? Would I be better off transfering if I really wanted to learn it? Most schools don't offer Korean, Cambodian, Vietnamese, etc. so I was just wondering how most people learm those languages if they aren't Ivy league students. I don't want a small 3-week course, but rather constant exposure to the language with classes etc. Would I be better off studying in Japan every summer? haha I guess I am really reaching here. I am already continuing Spanish so studying abroad my Junior yr is dedicated to a Spanish speaking country. (I love languages if you didn't know from my posts). Any input would be great.</p>

<p>Valerie</p>

<p>Valerie,
You might want to look into Beloit College's summer language institute. They offer intensive and, from what I hear, excellent, summer immersion programs in a wide variety of languages. Two summers there, then a summer or semester program in Japan or where ever, could probably get you started. I am sure there are other similar programs available as well, this is just one that I have heard many good things about.</p>

<p>Carolyn</p>

<p>To follow up on carolyn's comments about other programs, one of the best summer language schools is at Middlebury in vermont. It's complete immersion and very intense. See <a href="http://www.middlebury.edu/academics/ls/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.middlebury.edu/academics/ls/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>However for english speakers the asian languages are reputedly far more difficult to learn than closer-related languages such as german or spanish. The US State Department program that trains foreign service officers who are studying full-time estimates 25 weeks to become proficient in the closer-related languages, but 88 weeks for the languages you mention! And their heading says these languages are " Languages which are exceptionally difficult for native English speakers" See <a href="http://www.nvtc.gov/lotw/months/november/learningExpectations.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.nvtc.gov/lotw/months/november/learningExpectations.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>This doesn't mean your hope is impossible, just that for these languages summer programs or independent study may not be enough. If you're really interested in learning them I would suggest further research by contacting a prof or two at a college that does offer those languages and ask for their advice. Believe it or not, most profs answer their own phones and are willing to spend 10-15 minutes discussing something like this with a student (explain why you're calling at the outset and ask if they have time to talk). What I think you'll discover, though, is that you're going to need to xfer if you want to learn those languages.</p>

<p>Valuable - Congratulations on choosing an absolutely wonderful LAC. As a former Cambodian linguist myself (don't ask), I can attest to the difficulty of English speakers learning Asian languages. It can be done however, and I'd recommend finding native speakers to learn from. I did a bit of Googling ("Little Rock" Vietnamese Speakers) and found that there are quite a number of Asians living in Northwest Arkansas. Here's a starting point:</p>

<p><a href="http://www.nwaonline.net/articles/2005/03/13/front/01lang.txt%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.nwaonline.net/articles/2005/03/13/front/01lang.txt&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>You may also be interested to know that there are three Japan/Japanese meet up groups in Little Rock. Just enter the Little Rock zip code 72201 at the homepage <a href="http://japanese.meetup.com%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://japanese.meetup.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Good luck with your college adventure!</p>