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"Foreign languages is a useless degree" Do you agree?

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La Esmerelda

Well I already know some spanish and have studied Italian at uni but as soon as uni is over I'm going to Italy for 1 year to improve my italian and to either spain or south america to improve my spanish. Thanks :smile:

I've just realised that this would be a totally awesome career for me since I'm always wanting to travel and live in different cities and my boyfriend says I'm totally obsessed with languages. Oh and lets not forget the money.

Well that's so good that you know multiple languages when you'd only need one for a career in the EU!
If you really love languages then you're basically getting paid for something you love. Paid thousands. Amazing eh?!
Hahaha yeaaaaah the money. People always retire early cos of the money AND the pension. Oh and you get sh*t loads of free stationery ahaha so many EU notepads and pens in my house omggg.
Do some research and see what kind of position you'd be interested in and what they look out for in an employee.
Glad I've opened your eyes to an amazing opportunity :smile:

best of luck with it! I hope you succeed - it's always nice seeing someone with a passion.

Positive rep? :angel:

Reply 21

LaughingBro

Should I learn Mandarin (1 type of Chinese), Japanese or Korean?

Reply 22

patella

It depends on the career you want, I guess. I don't think foreign language degrees are useless at all, and a joint honours degree with a language could be really good career-wise.

Reply 23

Antonia87

I'll never understand anyone who says its useless. There are really not many people who can develop fluency in foreign languages. And most companies/sectors would really value you and it would allow you to work overseas too.

Reply 24

Cicerao

Originally applied for German and TEFL then realised I hated learning the history and in-depth stuff about a country. I just like the languages.

So for me it would be worthless because it doesn't reflect my interests, lol. Good solid degree though.

Reply 25

Arekkusu

I'm studying French with linguistics myself.

In theory, they're very useful. All large companies want to expand across borders. Also, in a globalised world someone who blusters into a foreign country looking to win a contract in English is not going to be as well received as a clean-cut international type person talking the lingo. There are also plenty of pure language jobs such as translation and one always has private translation to fall back on, which can be lucrative, especially if you have a portfolio in business translation. Finally, the emergent economies in China, India, Brazil, none of them speak English, and the (questionable) assumption is that if you know one foreign language well enough to have a degree you should be able to learn another to liaise with these countries if need be. In such a splintered world economy, hopefully businesses believe there's a need for languagey people.

I am, however, fully expecting to be working in Tesco in four years' time. Or maybe in Carrefour.

Reply 26

Arekkusu

LaughingBro

Should I learn Mandarin (1 type of Chinese), Japanese or Korean?

Mandarin is the most useful, but in my weeaboo opinion Japanese is the most interesting language and culture. And slightly less hard.

Reply 27

Arekkusu

stephbk123

Information Technology Head of Division, but there's LOADS of different positions that pay the same... or more!
That's such a shame if you love languages! Do a languages degree after, because it's a fantastic job if languages comes naturally to you. You're literally getting paid thousands for having a talent :wink:

You'd have to work abroad, but I'm sure you'll agree that it's 100% worth it :P
The benefits are unbelievable. I'd seriously consider it if I were you. He did German at Oxford, so you don't need multiple language degrees. If I was super talented at languages, I wouldn't think twice!!!

Lordy, sounds like a bit too much money for me to be honest... what organisation does he actually work for? Is it a ridiculously gruelling selection process like the one for the Civil Service Fast Stream?

Reply 28

ImIntent

stephbk123

Completely disagree.
My father works for the European Union and earns £14,000 a month. The advantages of working for the EU are unbelievable - your children will get free private health care until they're 25, you and your spouse will have amazing pensions (I'm talking THOUSANDS a month), and so much more. If you're big on being rich when you're older then working for the EU is a fantastic way of using a languages degree and of becoming amazingly rich! Plus, if you love languages then working for the EU will help you learn other languages :smile:

Thank god I'm studying Politics and IR! =]

I'm not too bothered though about becoming rich. Just want enough to enjoy my life and if possible help others.

Reply 29

ImIntent

I speak foreign languages anyway so even better! Portuguese, English and Spanish and am reasonable at French!

So yes it is always useful to know other languages, especially if you want to go work abroad etc.

Reply 30

tillytots

I think they're very good, even for people who stay in the UK to work, as our culture is diverse and translators etc are always needed in things like business and international relations. I think a joint honours degree with a language is better though e.g law/ politics/business/economics could open many new path ways.

I was thinking of doing a joint honours for my degree as a language like French or Italian helps a lot in the art world, but then I decided not to bother, I'm fluent in French anyway.

Reply 31

Cicerao

tillytots

I'm fluent in French anyway.

Why don't you get predicted A*? :woo:

Reply 32

ImIntent

Cicerao

Why don't you get predicted A*? :woo:

haha good point.

I did Portuguese GCSE in 2005 just after arriving in England and got an A* in it, and an A in French. They didn't expect me to pass Englisg GCSE so to compensate they made me sit it.

Then my college didn't run French A-Level so I had to take other subjects :frown:

grrrrrrrr.

Reply 33

0w3n-69

COMPLETELY dissagree!

A language degree is more than just the language.

I have to do history, literature, politics, economics, geography, cultural anthropology etc all about Korea, and other EA countries for my degree!

They certainly aren't no walk in the park, and anyone who suggests they are pointless really hasn't looked into the scope of study that is actually needed for a language degree.

Reply 34

ch0llima

I know somebody who is doing Spanish and Linguistics... don't have a clue about what he's going to do when he's done and I don't think he does either, although he taught English in Spain for a year and loved it so that may be something he goes back to doing.

Mind you, Spanish is one of the top five used languages in the world so it's pretty damned helpful either way. I only speak English fluently but used to be pretty dapper with French and had some good conversational German. Learning languages has actually been proven to improve the wiring in your brain and your cognitive processes, so even if you never use the language again it's done you some good. I suppose that learning a foreign language could lead to emigration and an escape from the chavs and outrageous taxes we're faced with in this country.

Gotta love Korean, Hangul is the most wonderful alphabetic system I think I've ever seen.

Reply 35

bill-e

How much would learnng japanese at uni benifit? Say a degree in maths with japanese?

Reply 36

tillytots

Cicerao

Why don't you get predicted A*? :woo:

my college didn't predict any a*s unless they were desperately needed.

Who cares though? I got the A* anyway :tongue:

Reply 37

Cicerao

0w3n-69

Aww, what a cute sig.

(Off-topic, but I fap over languages. :sexface:

)

Reply 38

Enoch.

Im thinking in doing japanese :biggrin:

Reply 39

a.posteriori

La Esmerelda

I hear a lot of people slating foreign language degrees most notably because you can learn a foreign language without doing a degree for it.

What does everyone else think and any language students feel free to write about your experiences.

(NB: I'm impartial and in no way slating MFL's)

Is it just a foreign language degree in the UK? In the US, it's typically a degree along the line of Chinese Studies, Arabic Studies, Russian studies, etc., and focuses a lot on culture. I think these degrees are very useful, especially if you get a graduate degree later on (maybe in another field).