<p>Despite that my father has no college education nor has even completely finished his school back in a small town in Mexico, he’s often telling me how a degree in Chinese is very useless and a waste of our money and time that’ll get me no jobs at all any time in my life because he thinks they’re only good for translator careers and I’ve been recently struggling to find a part-time job to support myself and pay my college stuffs for some odd reason. I’m not exactly planning on a translating career but I do plan on working in either international jobs or working jobs in some other countries with a specific language. My father expects me to study to get basic and common careers like a doctor or a mechanic, which are careers I’m not really interested in.</p>
<p>Not that I hate my own father or anything but my relationship with him hasn’t been going very well recently because of all the financial problems we’re having for the past several years yet he expect me to take every single “advice” he gives me just because he’s my father and he’s a fully grown adult. Not that I’m not considering any of his advices, most of them are very black and white advices because of his lack of college education and college experience and the fact that he’s always had a very stubborn attitude. BTW, BA or at least a minor in Chinese isn’t the only thing I plan on, I also plan on going to trade school for business after that and even then, my father would still tell me my decisions are stupid and will only get me jobless and lifeless in my existance.</p>
<p>Is my father right that I’ll just end up jobless and stuck in his house for the majority or my life with the decisions I’m making?</p>
<p>A BA is kind of useless (unless you want to teach it) but its not bad to learn another language, however getting a minor won’t given you any bonuses really, but it will aid in the ultimate goal which would help you, becoming fluent. Learning some (basic) Chinese would also make it easier in case you decided to teach English there.</p>
<p>@bloodythunder: So the answer is no. It’s not worth it or it can be if I either get a major in a Business-related field or at least get a business-related certification from a trade school.</p>
<p>Personally if your going on the business route I would major in a business-related field while taking Chinese as a language. Quite a few colleges offer special “business Chinese” course too. Taking one class each semester might end being a minor depending on the university.</p>
<p>If you want to work in China, having a Chinese major is very worth it, if you don’t want to work in China but expect to be working internationally with Chinese people it’s good as a minor because then you learn not only the language but also the culture and so it makes interacting with your Chinese business partners easier and more likely the deal will go the way you want because you know you’re not disrespecting them and their culture.</p>
<p>Proficiency in the (presumably Mandarin) Chinese language and knowledge of some cultural aspects will be helpful if you will be doing business in Chinese using places. However, this does not necessarily require a major or minor in the subject.</p>
<p>Do you have any previous exposure to the language? Although I haven’t studied Chinese (not seriously, anyway), from what I gather, it would be very difficult, if not impossible, for a native English or Spanish speaker without any prior exposure to the language–for example, having grown up in/around family that speak the language–to achieve any real degree of fluency in four years. You say you don’t plan on becoming a translator, so that’s good (because it would require several more years of study and immersion before attaining a level of mastery necessary for that type of work). But I think you’d be better served by majoring in something that would be relevant to the specific jobs you want while taking courses in Chinese on the side. A working knowledge of Chinese might be helpful for you if your intended jobs involve working in China or with Chinese businesses or something, but it’s not a replacement for whatever skills/knowledge that job actually requires.</p>
<p>@AuraObscura: I have a question, does this sound like a good college plan to you: A major in Chinese and an associate’s degree in Business while having a work experience for a company?</p>
<p>If u want to pursue Chinese, u need to combine it w some other major. A degree in Chinese alone is useless. </p>
<p>There are literally MILLIONS of fluent bilingual Chinese/English speakers who can speak, read, write Chinese and do something else (engineering, finance, medicine, etc).</p>
<p>Interpreters and language teachers are a dime a dozen. Companies that send its staff overseas to work, send only managers or people w technical expertise. </p>