<p>I have a passion for languages. I'm completely fascinated by them in every way. This leads to a predicament when trying to figure out what to major in and classes to take next year...</p>
<p>In a perfect world, I would love for every class possible to be a language class. I'm already semi-fluent in Spanish and Hebrew and want to become completely fluent, and also to learn Arabic and Chinese and dabble in Latin. Obviously, this causes some problems.</p>
<p>I don't want to be a teacher or a translator, the two obvious ideas. The way I put it, I want to be the one with the ideas, not just the one translating someone else's. So I'm planning on becoming an International Relations major, and though history and politics etc. are interesting to me, I not particularly talented at them nor do I have any passion for them the way I have for languages, and most likely taking many other classes will leave me very little room for the sort of language study I want to be.</p>
<p>Is being a linguistics/foreign language major unrealistic in the real world? Is doing IR with as much language as possible the most sensible thing?</p>
<p>Well, if you love languages, why would you temper that? You can do so much with languages. Though I do know a UN translator, think of the fact that to be a UN delegate, you must speak all of the official languages. Don't dumb down your passion for something you don't care about. Any degree can be turned into what you want. That's the point of graduate school!</p>
<p>Being able to speak multiple languages can get you a job in just about every company, since just about every major company (quite literally) does business globally or has international headquarters.</p>
<p>Multilinguality will be and already is one of the most marketable skills. Business (which is very broad), UN, CIA, government, all good places to go with that.</p>
<p>Wow, you sound just like me. I have learned several languages and want tonstudy more in college. Most undergrad degrees won't get you a job, that is what grad school is for so I don't think tha's a problem. The languages will benefit your social life as well as just about any profession.</p>
<p>My main concern would be how decent or not so decent college language classes and departments are. That's really all you have to look out for. Just do well in your language classes, get avdegree, then start concerning yourself with where the money is when you are deciding what to do for grad school.</p>