Language vs. Linguistics major?

juillet
Fri, 22 Mar 2019 00:06:29 +0000

You won’t necessarily have to do just translation. I have a friend who is a linguistics major and she works with me at Microsoft. We have lots of language majors, some of who work in roles that require the language and training, and many of whom do not. For the majority of roles, the degree is what matters, not the actual major. However, knowing how to speak a second language is immensely helpful.

As you’ve probably realized, linguistics and languages are two different things. Linguistics is about the structure of language in general, whereas language is the study of the actual language(s) themselves (and also the culture of places that speak those languages).

Also, this is just a suggestion - but you might consider delving deeply into one language rather than trying to split the difference with two. What I mean is - two semesters of studying abroad in an Arabic-speaking country, after two years of Arabic language study, will go much farther towards fluency in Arabic than one semester there and one semester in a Spanish-speaking country. I studied abroad for one semester in college, and honestly, the four-month mark is when you only begin to crack the surface of settling into the culture and lifestyle of a new place/country.