<p>Candid and blunt responses, please. Thank you.</p>
<p>If you are going into Education, then I don’t see why it is that useless. Other than education, I bluntly, say that i can’t see the use of any language major. Maybe tourism or interpreter?</p>
<p>Yes. It is useless. Major in something else. If you really want to learn the languages buy a copy of Rosetta Stone or something.</p>
<p>Language majors don’t have many requirements. There’s no reason why you can’t just double major. Or get a minor in the language and a major in something that you could more easily get a job with.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t say it’s useless, but having a language major is by no means an indicator of your ability to actually speak the language and is not impressive in and of itself. You could study the language as a side discipline and then maybe study abroad - for example, major in, I don’t know, biology or something, and then go to France and study biology while improving your fluency in the language.</p>
<p>If you are a single major in French/German, you can do something a 10 year old French or German kid can do without effort: speak</p>
<p>Well, of course it depends on what you want to do, but almost all PhD graduate programs in certain humanities subjects (theology, philosophy, history, classics) require their graduates to have working knowledge in French AND German. So if you’re going into a PhD program like that, it will really put you ahead of the curve if you already know the scholarly languages. </p>
<p>For example, Penn’s Classics program-- [Graduate</a> Program in Classical Studies | University of Pennsylvania Department of Classical Studies](<a href=“http://www.classics.upenn.edu/programs/graduate/classical-studies#course]Graduate”>http://www.classics.upenn.edu/programs/graduate/classical-studies#course)</p>
<p>Or Fuller’s theology program-- [Fuller</a> Theological Seminary](<a href=“http://www.fuller.edu/academics/school-of-theology/cats/phd-academics.aspx]Fuller”>http://www.fuller.edu/academics/school-of-theology/cats/phd-academics.aspx)</p>
<p>Useless? That all depends on what you do in college other than just completing your major. </p>
<p>Colleges offer 2 types of degrees under one roof. Some are vocational in nature such as accounting, engineering, nursing, etc. and on the other hand there are the liberal-arts majors. None of the liberal-arts majors lead directly to a career path (except perhaps as a professor in that subject) nor are they intended to. It may also be applicable to some career fields but that is not the main goal; if you want a degree that definitely prepares you for a job, pick a vocational major. But the truth is most people in management positions came up from liberal-arts majors.</p>
<p>History, french, poli-sci, archeology, you name it. People with these majors can get good jobs too, but it takes more than just the degree. Good grades and involvement in leadership activities is important, and a real key is internships. They set you apart from the 1000’s of other kids with the same degree, give you experience in the field, and usually lead to offers from the companies where you had internships.</p>
<p>One issue when answering questions like the OP asked is that most HS students (and unfortunately many college students) can name only a dozen or so jobs, so they have no idea of how people enter career fields they don’t even know exist. This means kids talk about the same handful of jobs as if that’s all there is – lawyer, teacher, accountant, doctor, investment banker, etc. Almost any career field is open to the liberal-arts grad outside of the ones that require specific training and even for these you could go to grad school or take post-college classes if you really wanted.</p>
<p>The OP needs to take the broad approach; say to yourself “I’m going to graduate with a college degree, and this is a base requirement for many employers. But in addition to that, what steps do I need to take to identify a potential career and make myself an attractive hire to prospective employers in that field?” </p>
<p>I would suggest the OP read the book “Major in Success”. It has many stories about how college students can discover their interests and prepare for jobs pursuing those interests while in college. I also suggest using the resources of the career center starting freshman year; they have workshops, interest surveys, counselors, job fairs, and can even put you together with alums who will talk to you about their career and how to get started.</p>
<p>A lot of people here don’t know what’s entailed in a foreign language major. In general, required courses for foreign languages aren’t “language” classes. Instead, they’re classes taught on some subject (such as film or literature) in the language you’re studying. The language courses are pre-reqs for major courses and if you don’t place out of those pre-reqs, you could be setting yourself up to be really behind from the start.</p>
<p>I’m a French major also taking a course in German. My required courses are: a Basic French Literature course (equal to like English 101), a Basic French Writing course (equal to English 102), and an oral course which is very similar to a public speaking course. I then have six 300+ level electives.</p>
<p>So far, my electives have consisted of children’s literature (a different novel every week and a large research paper at the end of the semester, our midterm and final were five essays) and French Theatre (We read a few plays, choose one, and then perform it.)</p>
<p>My classes rarely break into English.</p>
<p>Anyways,
This simply isn’t true. I mean, it is, but there’s so much more. A 10-year-old would have a hard time writing large research papers, reading 18th century literature, writing well-structured essays, or making articulate arguments on broad topics (such as thoughts on the death penalty, school uniforms, or gun control.)</p>
<p>Is it useless? It entirely depends on what you end up doing. At the very least, if you don’t mind teaching, it’s a solid Bachelors degree that you can go back to school for an extra year or two to get certification. There are also other avenues. Some international companies need people who speak French and/or German.</p>
<p>@Epic, </p>
<p>I work overseas. My colleagues & I are all multilingual, but we all have a degree in something else. Trust me; professional translators & language teachers are a dime a dozen and poorly paid. The rest of the world is multilingual, but only do Anglophones think it’s a big deal to speak a second language. Everyone (parents and kids) except the Americans at my kids’ international school was bi- or trilingual in their sleep.</p>
<p>By all means pursue a language major if it is your passion. I only STRONGLY advise that you do not do it as a SINGLE major. Combine it as a minor or a double major. That would be powerful.</p>
<p>Speaking in another another tongue in and of itself is nothing special. But if u can do that and walk and chew gum at the same time, then you have opportunities…</p>