Your degree doesn’t get you a job - the opportunities your college offers and your willingness to take advantage of them will matter more, as will your internships.
I really wouldn’t advise that you try and spend time in 3 different countries. For Asian Languages, it typically takes over 5 years to become relatively fluent, and more than 10 to be truly fluent. Most students need a full year to reach a decent level of fluency if they’ve had intensive learning before that. A good college for students who are gifted at languages is Middlebury; Dickinson is another college where language learning is taken seriously. Yet another one is Tufts.
What are your stats (SAT/ACT, unweighted/weighted GPA), AP/DE/PSEO/IB/AICE courses taken?
Technical skills (CS, Environmental Science, IT…) are in demand for translators, but mostly companies need people who can function in two cultures and navigate the cultural pitfalls of doin business in both. Economics and statistics are two good majors to have in addition to an East Asian minor and a language major.
Someone showed me this article (Alex Potter) recently, I thought it’d interest you: http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/7abcd368#/7abcd368/10
I appreciate your feedback mommyrocks. I agree, I’ve been looking at a lot of sites lately about foreign degrees in the US, and most of them seem to say that people with foreign degrees end up going to grad school in the US if they want to live here, which I wouldn’t mind doing. If there was a university in Texas that had a dual degree program with one of these countries that interests me, then I would definitely look into it, but I couldn’t afford an out of state university. MYOS1634, what’s so bad about wanting to spend time in these countries? It’s a good way to get immersed in the languages and become more familiar with the cultures, plus I can see many cool sites. This is all stuff that I couldn’t do if I stayed in the US.
That’s not what I’m saying. I totally understand wanting to live abroad, but living in 2 or three countries is very difficult, not to mention unpractical.
I would suggest applying to a post-high school/Pre college program through AFS, Nacel, YFU… to spend a year in a Korean or Japanese high school. This would definitely be a total immersion (you’d live in a family and be treated like a family member, attend a school for local students, take the same classes, etc.) Then you’d know whether you want to return for college or whether you’d rather attend a US college that’s known for its language programs and study abroad programs.
Have you read the article I linked for you? Please do.
Have you lived abroad before, are you an expat kid or a third culture kid? Are your parents from another country?
What are your current stats?
What level in languages have you reached and have you tried any external tests (SAT Subject, AP, JLPT…)?
I’m actually currently going to a community college, so I’ve already taken the SAT. Both of my parents are from America and I’ve never lived abroad. I kind of glanced at the link, but it just seemed like stories about people learning languages in (not trying to sound rude). Also, I still don’t get what you mean by “living in 2 or 3 countries is difficult, not to mention unpractical”. It’s not like I’m trying to live in all of them at the same time. If someone can live in one country, there’s no problem with living in a different one later on.
Living/ working in asia is not the same thing as going to university in asia. In the companies I’ve worked for in asia, hiring preference goes to asian candidates with Western degrees. Their countrymen who have studied only in asia have had a very different educational experience: deferential to authority and non partucipatory in discussions. They never say boo in meetings.
Translators are a dime a dozen. We don’t need translators who are knowledgeable about 8th century asian philosophy, but ones who are knowledgeable about engineering, law or finance. We already get that from bilingual local asian staff who have gotten their degrees in the UK or US.
A foreigner coming to asia w a degree in Asian studies is about as useful as a foreigner coming to the US w degree in US history. I have friends in the UN & US State Dept who have offered guidance to my son: get a degree in something useful first (medicine, engineering, finance), then come talk to us.
I’m probably majoring in international relations. I was just using Asian studies as an example because I’ve been looking up stuff about it lately, but based on what I’ve seen so far, I agree, a major in something like international relations is a lot more useful. Also, when did I say working in Asia is the same thing as going to a university there, and what does that have to do with any of this?
International Relations is an academic field which is really a variation on political science.
Unless you intend on pursuing it in academia or have the language and other professional related skillsets for some international non-profits or corporations, IR isn’t going to be regarded much differently than Poli-Sci, Asian Studies or other academic fields.
The market for IR PhDs even from tippy-top PhD programs like JHU or Columbia isn’t great, either. Personally know a friend who has been adjuncting for a few years despite having a PhD from one of those places, having a supportive prominent scholar as an advisor, and a couple of outstanding prestigious post-doc positions. Main issue is there aren’t enough open entry-level tenure track positions for even the topflight PhD program graduates.
Are u a heritage speaker in any of these asian languages you’re studying? Or are u picking them up entirely from scratch? Unless u are FLUENT in them-- i.e. able to read a newspaper and comprehend/utilize idioms-- you’re not going to be an effective translator. Merely being proficient isn’t good enough.
Let’s say u get a degree in asia, then what? Are u coming back to the US to look for a job? Universities in the US will have job placement support for their grads. How are you going to approach getting a job in the US, hunting from asia?
Are u a heritage speaker in any of these asian languages you’re studying? Or are u picking them up entirely from scratch? Unless u are FLUENT in them-- i.e. able to read a newspaper and comprehend/utilize idioms-- you’re not going to be an effective translator. Merely being proficient isn’t good enough.
Let’s say u get a degree in asia, then what? Are u coming back to the US to look for a job? Universities in the US will have job placement support for their grads. How are you going to approach getting a job in the US, hunting from asia?
No, I’m not a native speaker in any of them, I’m not even Asian. And like I said before, part of the reason I want to go to these countries is to get good at the languages, which would be a much harder task if I remained in America to study them. Also, I never said I wanted to get my degree in Asia then immediately come back to the US to work. I said I wanted to work in Asia for a little while but plan on coming back to the US someday.
the reason why we ask all of this is that many of us are or have been expats. And it’s extremely hard. Learning one language to the point of being fluent is difficult, so trying to learn three of the world’s most difficult languages, and thinking you can easily adapt to each country, would tend to indicate that either you’re an expat kid who’s lived in a dozen countries already, or are an “impatriated” kid who hasn’t lived abroad and doesn’t speak another language fluently, thus can’t fathom how incredibly hard it is.
You should try and find a used copy of _Postcards from France by Megan McNeill Libby. It’s extremely insightful and shows the ups and downs of living abroad for a year as a HS student who’s completely immersed in the culture. You can try to audit an intercultural communication seminar at a local college. You should read one or two books from the following series: Culture Shock! (they have South Korea, Japan, and China); Etiquette guide to (Korea/Japan/China); Culture Smart! (all three countries exist).
I would really strongly advise that you look into HS immersion programs first, ie., after HS. Get immersed in the culture,and decide if you want to go to college there. If so, great: you’re on location, you can apply and attend! If not, you can apply to US colleges and even go study abroad in another country. (Middlebury, Dickinson, Oberlin, and Tufts are all excellent). It’s win-win.
I am a foreign student who know 3 languages, and let me tell you; it is VERY hard to learn foreign languages, particularly if they are completely different branches of languages. I have been speaking English for 6 years and still think I am not perfect in English(or will never be…my 1st language is Korean and plus, English is some wacky language). You really need to know basics before jumping in to Asian countries, and you shouldn’t assume the natives know English because they don’t.
Beside what @MYOS1634 said, try fsi-langauge.yojik.edu to study some Asian languages. It has over 40 foreign languages with full text and audio files. I am learning French with this website
I never said it would be easy to learn the languages easily and adapt to the cultures without difficulty, but that doesn’t mean I’m not interested in going. As someone who studies these languages when I can, I know it’s not easy, but a strength of mine is that when I’m interested in something, then I try pretty hard to accomplish the goal I’m aiming for. Yeah I’ve never lived abroad, but I also know it’s not perfect on the “other side”, especially for someone raised in a country like the US. Again, I’m currently going to a community college so a high school abroad program isn’t an option. Going to a college in one of these countries isn’t my permanent plan, but I was just wondering if anyone could give me some insight one how well a degree from one of these countries would be recognized in the US.
Are you a CC student, or a Dual-Enrolled student? (I had assumed DE but if you’re a transfer, that’s a whole other kettle of fish.) Can you specify?
When we say it’s hard, we don’t just mean it takes a lot of work (although it does). It means that EVEN with a lot of work, it’s very very difficult, and the experience can be exhilarating but also quite alienating/isolating, which is why going to many different countries is a bad ideas.
A degree from these countries likely wouldn’t be recognized in the US for work purpose, so you’d have to parlay your degree into a local job -teaching ESL? - and then figure things out. Students who graduate from a foreign university often come to the US for grad school because no matter how prestigious in their country, it’s unlikely their university is known in the US. Without the US alumni network and the internship/research opportunities in the US, odds are stacked against you if you show up in the US looking for a job.
A possibility may be to study in one country and do internships in the US during the summer?
However, with the different school year (starts in March, summer is NOT a long break when you can have a long internship), you’ll be battling the odds.
I agree that you shouldn’t just assume people in other countries can speak english, I think it’s stupid when people do that. Like I said, I KNOW it’s hard, but I still enjoy it. Also, Internet sources are nothing compared to actually being in a country where the language is spoken. I’m not saying they’re useless, but I go to Japanese class on Saturdays and am about to finish my 3rd year. Not to brag, but I’d say I’m one of the top 2 best readers in my class. However, when I listen to the language, it’s really hard to follow because I’m surrounded by english everyday and am not used to hearing Japanese being spoken. My Japanese is ok and I can also speak some Chinese and Korean, so I definitely wouldn’t be completely helpless if I moved there, especially since I would be taking a language course to improve a lot.
I’m a CC student. Yes, at times it’s difficult, but at other times it’s fun. Not to be rude, but you almost sound as if you’re trying to discourage me to even step foot in these countries as if they make your automatically make people’s lives depressing. If undergraduate degrees from these countries is really that bad, then I guess I could get my Bachlor’s here first, It’s just boring to live in Texas your whole without any travel experiences in other countries, especially when you have an interest for certain ones. But I’m trying to decide if it would be better to get my undergraduate degree here and my graduate degree in Asia, or vice versa…
Okay so you’re a regular CC student. It changes things.
What’s your GPA?
What level have you reached in Japanese - have you tried taking the JLPT?
I’m not trying to discourage you for no reason, but rather because some aspects of your plan don’t work (ie., studying in all these countries). You could get a TESOL degree in the US, then go teach in China, Korea, and Japan for as long as you wish (although contracts tend to be 2-year long but potentially that’s 6 years right there). I totally understand wanting to live abroad (as mentioned above, some people here have been expats, me included) but I see you don’t understand what it means; we don’t speak about problems because it’s bad, but because you have to be mentally ready for something that is going to test you in every way possible. Not only is that not a reason not to go, but in my opinion it’s exactly why you should go. However, that’s also why trying to study in 3 countries sounds so far-fetched.
When would you transfer?
Can you register for an Intensive Japanese program somewhere? Middlebury’s is impossible, but there may still be spots at Penn State’s intensive summer program starting June 15, they offer any of the 3 languages you’re interested in. You could register for Levels 3 and 4 of Japanese. http://www.outreach.psu.edu/language-institute/course-offerings
In addition, that shouldn’t prevent you from trying to transfer into the universities I named before (Oberlin, Tufts, Dickinson…) plus appropriate 4-year Texas publics and, if you want to travel a bit, you could apply to UAlabama and UMinnesota (both of which have some scholarships for transfers), plus universities in the Pacific Northwest. You’d be better off with several choices, right?And if the best choice is a program you found at Fusan, or Yonsei, or Korea University, or HKU or NUS or Waseda, cool.
As for the articles, you clearly didn’t read them - there was an interview with someone who managed to find a job partly in China, partly in the US. The way he managed to do that would have been interesting (as is the rest of the article, BTW.)
I do need to get my GPA. I think it’s only in the mid 2’s, but I still have about 3 more semesters, plus this current semester doesn’t end until Friday, so I don’t really know what it is right now. I haven’t tried the JLPT, but I know I’m not fluent. Also, when I say “study” in these countries I don’t necessarily mean for college. I mean live there for a little while and take a class to study the language. I’ve also heard from many people that once you’ve had a good amount of experience in one country, it makes it a lot easier, especially if they have similarities, which they do. So I still wouldn’t say that wanting to multiple countries is necessarily far-farfetched. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve looked a lot of the hard parts about living these countries(of course, I’m not saying I know everything), but when visiting another country, although it is important to be aware of the difficulties, you should also think about the positives rather than just taking a full negative approach(which is the kind of attitude some people on here seemed to be telling me to do). Is a TESOL degree even useful? Especially since you can teach English in these countries with any degree. Like I said before, if I went to college in America, I would have to stay in Texas because of the high price of out of state tuition. I might read the article some other time, but I’ve been busy with college this week due to finals.
U say you cannot afford OOS college in the US, so how are u going to afford to live in these asian countries while u are there? U won’t be able to get a work visa w no work experience and no degree. A tourist visa is 90 days max.
Can u ski? You could work in Japan as a seasonal worker. I’ve met a lot of Aussies who do this. They live in a dorm, and work for peanuts & a ski pass, doing skiing instruction in the daytime and bartending at night. There’s strong demand for English-speaking ski instructors for the increasing numbers of foreign tourists. There are websites for recruiting transient seasonal ski workers.
Maybe the same deal is available in China & Korea. I’m aware that the popularity of skiing has really taken off in china.