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If you went to college what did you major

 Language Learning Forum : Languages & Work Post Reply
169 messages over 22 pages: << Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 ... 13 ... 21 22 Next >>
OneEye
Diglot
Senior Member
Japan
Joined 6659 days ago

518 posts - 784 votes 
Speaks: English*, Mandarin
Studies: Japanese, Taiwanese, German, French

 
 Message 97 of 169
02 October 2009 at 12:23am | IP Logged 
jessikt wrote:
TannerS wrote:

Does anyone have an opinion as to whether or not three or four foreign language classes per semester plus an
extra class or two in English would be too much work? I suppose it may vary depending on the university, but I
have experience with a college level Russian language class. I found it to be challenging, but not to the point that I
am unable to see myself taking three or four similar classes simultaneously.


As long as you are interested in the languages (which I assume you are, because you're here!) and are willing to do
the work necessary then I don't think it would be too much.


I'm not so sure about that.

TannerS, what are you planning on majoring in? You don't get to just pick whichever classes you feel like taking and then graduate once you've been there for four years. Your choice of major will largely determine what classes you can take and what you can take at the same time. Four classes is usually considered full time (at 3 hours per class), and 5 is a pretty standard load. So you'll have a really hard time taking 3 language courses (in different languages, no less), plus a creative writing course or two, AND your major classes.

Now, if you're planning on majoring in one of those fields, it's a little more manageable. You can double major in English (unless your university offers a Creative Writing BA; mine only offers it as a graduate program) and Spanish and double minor in German and Russian, or whichever combination of majors and minors you see fit. But be warned, it will probably take a while to finish, and will be quite difficult if your university is worth its salt. People look at me like I'm insane when I tell them I'm majoring in Chinese and minoring in Japanese and Art History.

Well...they look at me like I'm insane even if I only tell them I'm majoring in Chinese. :D
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sebngwa3
Diglot
Senior Member
United States
Joined 5973 days ago

200 posts - 217 votes 
Speaks: Korean*, English

 
 Message 98 of 169
02 October 2009 at 12:40am | IP Logged 
OneEye wrote:
   People look at me like I'm insane when I tell them I'm majoring in
Chinese and minoring in Japanese and Art History.

Well...they look at me like I'm insane even if I only tell them I'm majoring in Chinese.
:D


As in "that's a major with no prospects"?
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jessikt
Triglot
Groupie
Austria
ichestudiolangues.co
Joined 5643 days ago

98 posts - 102 votes 
Speaks: English*, GermanB1, French
Studies: SpanishA2, Swedish

 
 Message 99 of 169
02 October 2009 at 12:46am | IP Logged 
Yeah when I replied I sort of assumed that TannerS was considering incorporating these courses into some sort of
actual Major and was just wondering if taking so many differeny University-level language courses would be too
difficult.
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OneEye
Diglot
Senior Member
Japan
Joined 6659 days ago

518 posts - 784 votes 
Speaks: English*, Mandarin
Studies: Japanese, Taiwanese, German, French

 
 Message 100 of 169
02 October 2009 at 1:01am | IP Logged 
sebngwa3 wrote:
OneEye wrote:
   People look at me like I'm insane when I tell them I'm majoring in
Chinese and minoring in Japanese and Art History.

Well...they look at me like I'm insane even if I only tell them I'm majoring in Chinese.
:D


As in "that's a major with no prospects"?


Sure, whatever floats your boat.
1 person has voted this message useful



Michael K.
Senior Member
United States
Joined 5538 days ago

568 posts - 886 votes 
Speaks: English*
Studies: Spanish, Esperanto

 
 Message 101 of 169
02 October 2009 at 3:04am | IP Logged 
I'll be graduating with a degree in Business Administration in December (as long as I pass my classes :P). I could tolerate the classes, although it certainly wasn't a passion with me. I started out in Accounting (just like my brother) because it was a high demand major when I went in (along with Nursing). After my first test in Accounting I decided I hated the subject (and 4 classes later I still hate it :P). If I had to do it all over again, and I weren't so tired of studying that I never wanted to see another textbook for the rest of my life, I think I'd double major in History and Marketing (or at least major in one of them) since those are the classes I really seemed to enjoy during my college career.

I hope the one thing I take away from my schooling is the desire to keep learning throughout life and the desire to have an intellectual curiosity about things. My weakest point academically is reading, which is something I really should have improved since it is so vital to any academic area of study.

Since a main theme in this thread is majoring in a passion vs. majoring in something useful, like everything else, it needs to be done in moderation and avoid extremes. I really doubt most people who study Political Science think they'll be a president or PM someday, but of course politics will be a major interest in their life and they may even get a chance to have a career in their passion. I knew someone who majored in History because he wanted to be a lawyer, but never went to law school, and became a sales manager instead. Then again, my brother knows someone who earned an education degree and is a retail manager. I think having realistic goals, learning about yourself, learning how to learn, and gaining at least some basic employable skills should definitely play a role in deciding a major and in schooling.

And as far as useful majors go, my brother earned a Master's degree in Accounting, had straight A's in his undergrad program with regard to his Accounting courses, and is still looking for a job over a year later in a major where the university claimed they couldn't graduate enough qualified candidates when he started out. But at least he likes his area of study and there are plenty of openings out there.

I hope this post wasn't too long!



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Glendonian
Bilingual Diglot
Newbie
Canada
Joined 5526 days ago

26 posts - 37 votes
Speaks: French*, English*
Studies: German, Italian

 
 Message 102 of 169
03 October 2009 at 12:56am | IP Logged 
Is anybody else very interested in sebngwa3's story about languages the US military? That might be a good racket
to get in on, with some very very big caveats...
2 persons have voted this message useful



Marc Frisch
Heptaglot
Senior Member
Germany
Joined 6474 days ago

1001 posts - 1169 votes 
Speaks: German*, French, English, Spanish, Portuguese, Turkish, Italian
Studies: Persian, Tamil

 
 Message 103 of 169
03 October 2009 at 12:57am | IP Logged 
[QUOTE=hombre gordo] Has anyone studied a degree abroad?

I think it would be great to study a degree at a university in the land of one's target language./QUOTE]

Yes, I obtained my master's degree in France and then stayed for the Ph.D. France is a great place to study (besides, it's a great place to live ;-) and the financing for doctorates is very generous. I really think that college is the best time to go abroad. I know so many people who moved from Minnesota to Michigan to go to college. Would it have been so different to go to Europe?
1 person has voted this message useful



Belardur
Octoglot
Senior Member
Germany
Joined 5420 days ago

148 posts - 195 votes 
Speaks: English*, GermanC2, Spanish, Dutch, Latin, Ancient Greek, French, Lowland Scots
Studies: Biblical Hebrew, Italian, Arabic (Written), Mandarin, Korean

 
 Message 104 of 169
03 October 2009 at 9:09am | IP Logged 
Glendonian wrote:
Is anybody else very interested in sebngwa3's story about languages the US military? That might be a good racket
to get in on, with some very very big caveats...


For US citizens, the National Virtual Translation Center isn't a bad racket, either. I hear it's below the going rate for professional translation, but as a side-, work-from-home-, or student-job, it's not a bad deal.


1 person has voted this message useful



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