<p>My D is an education major with a concentration in literature but she feels that she will also get a minor in Spanish (at least-her words). So I was wondering does it add a lot of value for her to have this additional minor. She will be checking with the State Education department to see how the minor helps qualify as an alternative route Spanish or ESL teacher. The at least part may be available- that is she may actually be able to obtain majors in Literature, Spanish and Education because of the structure of her required classes and the Study Abroad program. I convinced her to take advantage of Study Abroad and she has connected with the Spanish professors at her school- that is why the interest in Spanish. The minor will be easy really but if she decides rather to major in Spanish it will require taking extra classes each semester. She can handle the extra class but it could have a slight impact on her GPA. While it is very good (3.7) would a slight drop offset the advantage of being certified in 2 subjects?
Her cousin teaches lit and does a joint history and lit course which my D found motivating. She says she could see trying to teach a literature class/spanish combination when she gets to teach. What is nice at her school she needs 2 international lit classes for teaching certification and they will count Spanish lit classes that also qualify for the Spanish major or minor. These classes are taught in Spanish of course.
Appreciate your thoughts.</p>
<p>Yes!!!</p>
<p>Having a minor in Spanish (or at least taking several classes in Spanish) is very helpful for getting teaching jobs. being bi-lingual is always a help.</p>
<p>My son is a Engineering and Bio double major. He is also pursuing a minor in Spanish. He wants to go to med school. We think that Spanish minor will help.</p>
<p>In my area of the country, being conversant in Spanish is a big plus in the education field. Kids are moved into English as soon as possible. But speaking Spanish is very useful in dealing with the parents. Many of the successful Caucasian administrators speak Spanish.</p>
<p>I agree with the other posts. It is a great advantage. Another thing to be aware of is a federal loan forgiveness program for teachers who commit to teaching at-risk population for a period of time. I’m sure, if your daughter is interested, having a minor in Spanish would help her in many of those settings. I’m not sure of the details but you can probably find it on your state’s Department of Ed website. Good luck!</p>
<p>Yes, it’s a good idea. My DD is teaching in a charter school where she needs to know Spanish. I’m not sure she could have gotten this job if she didn’t know it.</p>
<p>An education major is useful for primary school teaching. For secondary school teacher it would be better to major in literature, minor in Spanish and get the relevant ed credits and student teaching.</p>
<p>I have sat on many hiring committees for my school district because I teach English at the college level and have a PhD. We do not look at Ed majors for English teaching jobs.</p>
<p>My daughter is currently an English teacher in an urban public school. She doesn’t need or want Spanish or ESL certification, but she sure wishes that she could speak Spanish well enough to communicate with some of her students sometimes, and their parents.</p>
<p>If she is planning to go into elementary (primary school) teaching, then the combination of edutation, literature, and Spanish could help her. Sounds great that the Spanish classes will count as international lit - that will help motivate her, as just Spanish grammar and vocab can be pretty dull even for those of us who love studying other languages.</p>
<p>“She will be checking with the State Education department to see how the minor helps qualify as an alternative route Spanish or ESL teacher.”</p>
<p>In general, assuming that she is a non-native speaker, has not yet lived in a Spanish-speaking environment, she has a far better chance of getting work as an ESL teacher than as a Spanish teacher.</p>
<p>Most people going into ESL have some combination of linguistics and second language training. It’s a very reliable field - she won’t make a ton of money but if she can effectively teach English as a Second Language she has a reasonable shot at getting a job anywhere in the world, esp. if she does a master’s. </p>
<p>The major and two minors sound like a good, well-rounded combination although I personally don’t envy her the education courses. They can be pretty tedious.</p>
<p>She will be far more likely to get a job as a Spanish teacher (or ESL) than as a Literature teacher.</p>
<p>For literature teacher, read English teacher, and with the writing skills of our students, English teachers will always be needed and employable. </p>
<p>When I got my PhD I chose English over Philosophy for that reason, although one area of my doctoral orals was in Philosophy. My progressive department allowed me that. People who can write can always be employed in teacher, in NGO’s, in government or in industry, as they used to say.</p>
<p>To be clear- She is a Literature major and will get a certification in education. She will be certified for k-12 (both elementary and secondary). She may also be able to get a second major in Spanish but will be able to easily be able to take the courses required for the minor. She needs 5 courses for the minor and 11 for the major. Since she can use 2 Spanish Lit courses for both the Literature and Spanish requirements she needs to figure how to get the additional 4 Spanish courses required to meet the major requirements. Remember she needs a semester for student teaching so that limits the available semesters to squeeze it all in. She will do a summer study abroad and will see how taking 20 credits next semester goes. If that is not to heavy a load she will take one additional class each semester.</p>
<p>foreign language teachers are in high demand. At small schools you can teach spanish and english. Perhaps a lit class or two to juniors and seniors.</p>
<p>very smart move to get the spanish. It will give her more options.</p>
<p>Tom, is she thinking of doing the summer study abroad in Spain, or in another Spanish speaking country? One of my Ds did a summer at the University of Granada and was able to obtain credit at her university for those courses. Your D may want to look into that type of possibility to gain the number of credits she needs.</p>
<p>Alwaysmom- Her school runs a program to Bilboa in Spain.</p>
<p>Study abroad is a great idea, and Bilbao is an interesting city. It will be hard to suggest this, as a parent, because kids ultimately do what they want, but if she does study abroad urge her not hang out with other people from the U.S. She will become much more effective in Spanish if she travels on her own outside of Bilbao, especially to towns where tourists don’t go, listens to the local music, reads the local papers, and becomes one of “those crazy people” who refuse to speak English at all.</p>