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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: 13 4 5 6 7 ... 2 ... 21 22 Next >>
sebngwa3
Diglot
Senior Member
United States
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200 posts - 217 votes 
Speaks: Korean*, English

 
 Message 9 of 169
27 September 2009 at 7:36pm | IP Logged 
Levi wrote:

Personally, I majored in linguistics. Sure, it doesn't have a lot of application in the
"real world", but it is my primary intellectual passion and I'm a firm believer in
studying what you are passionate about. And besides, I don't think I could have made it
through four years of college studying any other subject. I went to school with a lot
of people who chose majors solely on the basis that they were useful for getting high-
paying jobs, majors that they had no passion for and hardly any interest in. They
generally did poorly in their classes and many of them failed to graduate. Not that you
shouldn't consider how useful your major is in the real world, just that it's critical
you choose a subject you find particularly interesting.


What job did you get with the degree in linguistics? I was thinking if this gets you no job, might as well become a skilled worker like like welder, plumber, etc, and then study linguistics in your free time.
1 person has voted this message useful



dragonfly
Triglot
Senior Member
Russian Federation
Joined 6239 days ago

204 posts - 233 votes 
Speaks: Russian*, EnglishC2, Spanish
Studies: German, Italian, Mandarin

 
 Message 10 of 169
27 September 2009 at 8:01pm | IP Logged 
I majored in physics and phylology (English). Though I was rather good at both subjects, even while at University I decided to pursue the language path as my passion for physics subsided though for languages not. So since graduating I worked as an English teacher and a bit as a translator. I must say being a teacher is very convenient for a woman as you don't have to work from morning till night and you can plan your time and you have time for your family and children.
As for the standards of teaching languages it is rather high at big Univerities here, so I can't complain. Anyway, if you don't work hard on your own you won't have any progress no matter how good your teachers are.

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

 
 Message 11 of 169
27 September 2009 at 8:13pm | IP Logged 
I majored in Christian Protestant Theology and Philosophy (double) and am doing Ph.D. work now. I had to take some ancient language classes, but there's a reason I'm going back to self-study them - it didn't really teach me all that much. Had I done it in the states, German and French passive ability would have been required for the Ph.D. work, but I'd have studied them actively anyway, just as now.
I'm aiming to teach at a Uni anyway, so the languages are also a plus in that if I get the right certifications, I can teach outside of my field when language instruction is needed.
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Levi
Pentaglot
Senior Member
United States
Joined 5327 days ago

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Studies: Russian, Dutch, Portuguese, Mandarin, Japanese, Italian

 
 Message 12 of 169
27 September 2009 at 8:28pm | IP Logged 
sebngwa3 wrote:
What job did you get with the degree in linguistics? I was thinking if
this gets you no job, might as well become a skilled worker like like welder, plumber,
etc, and then study linguistics in your free time.

Well, I only graduated last year, and haven't found a language-related job yet. In this
economy, I'm just thankful I have any job at all. I'm working as an assistant manager at
a retail store.
1 person has voted this message useful



Loopy
Newbie
United States
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37 posts - 39 votes
Speaks: English*
Studies: German, Spanish, French

 
 Message 13 of 169
27 September 2009 at 8:31pm | IP Logged 
Dual Degree in Finance and Economics.

Minor in German.

Oh yeah...
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sebngwa3
Diglot
Senior Member
United States
Joined 5924 days ago

200 posts - 217 votes 
Speaks: Korean*, English

 
 Message 14 of 169
27 September 2009 at 9:05pm | IP Logged 
Levi wrote:
sebngwa3 wrote:
What job did you get with the degree in linguistics? I was thinking if
this gets you no job, might as well become a skilled worker like like welder, plumber,
etc, and then study linguistics in your free time.

Well, I only graduated last year, and haven't found a language-related job yet. In this
economy, I'm just thankful I have any job at all. I'm working as an assistant manager at
a retail store.


May I ask how much do you earn? Is that one of those jobs where they only require a college degree, regardless of which major?
1 person has voted this message useful



Marc Frisch
Heptaglot
Senior Member
Germany
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Speaks: German*, French, English, Spanish, Portuguese, Turkish, Italian
Studies: Persian, Tamil

 
 Message 15 of 169
27 September 2009 at 9:08pm | IP Logged 
I majored in pure mathematics with a minor in computer science, and then obtained my Ph.D. in geometry.
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Iversen
Super Polyglot
Moderator
Denmark
berejst.dk
Joined 6463 days ago

9078 posts - 16473 votes 
Speaks: Danish*, French, English, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Swedish, Esperanto, Romanian, Catalan
Studies: Afrikaans, Greek, Norwegian, Russian, Serbian, Icelandic, Latin, Irish, Lowland Scots, Indonesian, Polish, Croatian
Personal Language Map

 
 Message 16 of 169
27 September 2009 at 9:11pm | IP Logged 
I majored in French (<--major) and Literature (<--minor),- which is somewhat paradoxical given that I have almost dropped reading literature. Besides I 'unofficially' followed courses in Italian, Romanian, Old Norse, a few small courses in minor Romance languages and a preparatory course in 'middle level' Latin.

Generally I think my study years were very productive, but mostly because I used the institutes as places with useful ressources (including native and nearnative teachers) rather than places where anybody were supposed to teach me anything. In fact I only was a normal passive student in the 'conversation' classes, and precisely there I failed miserably ... at least until the moment where I decide to boycott all classes and just to follow my own head, - then my notes catapulted upwards.

In high school (Gymnasium, lycĂ©e) I completely lost my faith in the 'natural method'. At the university I completely lost my faith in being taught in general - but not in having native speakers around, getting feedback and having a splendid library at my disposal.   

Later I took most of a degree in Economics (I never finished it), but that's less relevant in this respect, except to show that you can do more than one single thing in this world if you have to.


Edited by Iversen on 27 September 2009 at 9:19pm



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