<p>If you major in a foreign language at a University, does that mean that you will be able to speak it fluently? </p>
<p>Do people who usually major in a foreign language graduate with the ability to speak it fluently?</p>
<p>Unless you are immersed for some time in an environment where the language you’re learning is the primary one, it’s über difficult to become fluent in a foreign language (while learning it at Uni). So, if majoring in a language includes a language immersion component, then it’s possible to become fluent in it. Otherwise, it’s largely dependent on the language you’re studying and from what mindset (and by that I mean what language group your own primary language comes from). English speakers tend to find germanic and romance languages with latin alphabets easiest to learn (mainly because they’re linguistically closer to English than other languages).</p>
<p>If with fluent you mean, “the ability to have conversations in a fluent (as opposed to slow and halting) manner” and “the ability to read and write most texts without the use of a dictionary”, then most language majors are nowhere near fluent.</p>
<p>That being said, how well you learn a language depends primarily on the amount of effort you invest into learning it, and how much you immerse yourself in the language. If you study abroad, read books and watch movies in the foreign language, regularly speak the language with friends at college, etc, you will acquire much greater fluency than if you just take the courses required for the major.</p>
<p>No. Depends on you, the school, and the language.</p>