majoring in a foreign language
 

This is a random question but I was curious if any of you on the board are majoring in or have a degree in a foreign language? I was thinking about pursuing Spanish myself. Anyways, I was curious what kind of professional possiblities are available if I chose to pursue this area. Thanks if you have any input

You could be an interpreter, translator, teacher, tourist guide...that's all I can think of.

My brother makes a living with his German major. He translates.

Frank Black majored in Spanish.

so...i suppose indie icon is another career option.

I have a major in English.

and I work in advertising. so it was worth shit.

thanks for the replies, I took up to Spanish 4 in highschool, but didn't really learn much, and that was like three years ago so I will have my work cut out for me

holy fuck. i used to teach your kind. i speak 3 languages (more or less) & i think "majoring" in any is a waste of fucking time. id rather pay for private or small group lessons where you advance much faster. as for the culture... meh...

if youre going to major in spanish youre going to be a schoolteacher. or some kind of teacher. if you're really sharp & want to waste your youth in poverty, then you could go into gradschool & become a professor. but "foreign language acquisition" is where the industry is going. teach all those managers to speak with their mexican workers. *everybody* is going to have to learn spanish sooner or later. (so why major in it?)

another possibility is you could major in international business w/ a minor in spanish. or some other field where the knowledge can come handy. but if spanish is your major, you are going to have to teach people to say "hola, mi nombre es paco".

I've been learning Russian for a long time. Not in school though.

i'd do this. major in something like the international business or public affairs and you're required at some schools to take language classes then just tack on the language you want to learn as a minor.

I haven't any degree, but in any way I passed FCE( First Certificate in English!) I knew the results yesterday!!:-)

I have a friend who majored in Spanish with a minor in Philosophy. He went to law school. Now he's a lawyer.

I plan on teaching myself japanese one of these days.

i can speak french a little not really though cause im taking a french class at school but im not learning anything

I've almost single handely tought english to myself.

I concur with !@#$%!.

I personally think a major in a foreign language is yet another scam by the revered American educational institution.

Unless you have a specific career in mind that would require a degree in such a study (most of which are academically oriented), a specialization would be useless. There are plenty of other avenues open to you if you simply seek to master the language.

Save yourself the $80 K you'd spend on a university degree and go on holiday in Mexico - you'll learn more there in a few months than you will in a year of study at a university.

Hell, give that money to me - I'll watch Days of Our Lives on the Spanish channel and teach you myself.

And while there are certainly technical and cultural aspects of the language that are best learned from those that are experienced, the Romance languages are by far the easiest to learn, especially on your own.

Major in Literature and minor in Spanish, so that you can woo hot bitches into the sack.

Truncated...
Americans are not allowed to say the phrase "Go on holiday."
Jeeziz.
Next thing you know, you will also be saying "In hospital."

I've been displaced, I have an excuse.

I blame it on the sponge-like quality of my amazingly well-developed brain.

You'd think your amazing brain could retain a word like "Vacation."
Sayin'.

ooooh! the freaks are here! now we can have fun...

anyway back to serious mode for a moment i'd spend $5K say going to private/ small group lessons daily for 6 months. small group means 5 or less, not "15 to 20".

then i'd spend a summer in mexico or spain or argentina depending on what kind of diction i want to acquire. or go have fun in costa rica.


i think the appropriate spelling there would be "amazin' " :D

Don't be jealous because I can utilize a multiregional lexicon.