Language vs. Linguistics major?

Fangirl1999
Thu, 21 Mar 2019 18:52:02 +0000

I really love languages (I’m an advanced Spanish speaker and just started learning Arabic this year) which is why I thought I might want to be a linguistics major. I’m taking a linguistics class (two, actually) this semester and I do like linguistics but mostly because I like languages so much. I’m definitely going to minor in Arabic language, which means I can’t double major. I want to study abroad one semester in Jordan and one semester in a Spanish-speaking country which makes it a little more difficult. Right now I’m considering a Spanish major with an Arabic language minor (and probably a translation concentration/certificate) or a linguistics major with an Arabic language minor. I feel like if I were to major in linguistics, I’d probably end up just doing translation anyways, but I’ve always heard that you can’t do anything with a language major unless you double. I also feel like a lot of people don’t wind up working in their major anyways, and it’s just the fact that I’ll have a degree that matters. Will I have more options if I major in linguistics instead of Spanish? Does it matter? Does anything matter? Are my (already high) odds of being a broke unemployed college grad higher if I choose one or the other?

I feel like I should also mention that I’m a first year and my college has an open curriculum, so no matter what I’m graduating in four years, although majoring in linguistics may be more difficult if I spent my full junior year abroad.