Reply to WVU cutting 32 majors, all foreign languages

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]It is not just WVU that has been dropping language programs. This has been going on since at least the great recession. My understanding is that fewer students are taking language in HS (and the vast majority of those kids are taking Spanish) and fewer are taking it at the university level. There is just not much demand. People argue that folks need to know these languages for foreign service and military intelligence, but as someone who has experience in both of these areas, the foreign service and the military have their own language training programs. There is of course a real need for spanish speakers in many parts of the country for in health, policing, education type jobs, but, there is really no demand for other languages. My guess is that universities are also having trouble finding qualified professors for these programs.[/quote]

I have a friend who majored in German who said it was the biggest mistake of their life. The UN only needs so many translators, and you can’t even get a job teaching it in high school, because no HS offers German. [/quote]

Well, that is an indictment of your friend’s lack of creativity and originality rather than a knock on being a German major.

You can do just as much, if not more, with a foreign language degree as any other liberal arts degree.  It’s like saying majoring in history is a mistake because there are only so many historian jobs out there.

Also, WVU’s Department of World Languages makes prominently clear on its website that many of their students “wisely combine their degree with another major or minor” and goes on to explain how easy that can be.   It’s not like they are trying to steer their students to what you would consider to be a useless major.
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Not that PP but the fact that you can do "something else" with your foreign language degree is a terrible argument for majoring in foreign language. Go major in the "something else" and take your foreign language classes on the side, if you must. (That's what I did.) Same thing with history, for that matter. Indeed there is even less reason to major in history than foreign languages because you can easily learn as much history as you want to know without taking a single college class.[/quote]

I majored in Spanish, studied abroad my junior year, won a Fulbright, went to law school, leveraged my Spanish degree and Fulbright/international experience (which I never would have had without being a Spanish major) into becoming an international lawyer, made millions, retired early, and in my retirement travel frequently to Spanish-speaking countries for leisure and adventure.  Before I retired I could compete for assignments that others could not, and now that I am not working I can go deeper into places where others cannot and communicate with millions of people with whom others  cannot, all because of my foreign language focus in college.

Being a foreign language major has served me very well both professionally and professionally.  No regrets. 
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DP. that's because you went to law school after getting an undergrad in Spanish. Had you not gone to law school, and got a high paying job with just an undergrad, then you'd have an argument.  One could major in something completely obscure, still go to law school and get a high paying job.

Not every undergrad who majors in foreign language will or have the chops to go to law school.

Why do seemingly intelligent people not understand this logic.

-signed not a lawyer[/quote]

It’s not that black and white.

I would not have had either the career as a lawyer that I did without the foreign language degree, and I wouldn’t have had the life I have had outside of the law without the language either.

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Trying to generalize from your particular experience to all other foreign language majors is preposterous.

In particular, we know that the median wage of a foreign language major is $54k, including the ones who went on to become lawyers like you did, which indicates this is a very unpromising career path.[/quote]

Sigh.  It’s so tiresome arguing with single-minded thinkers who are laser focused on one thing:  how much money you can make.

Only in America so folks think that it’s not useful to speak a second language. [/quote]

If you are the PP, then you told us how you made big bucks with your foreign language degree, so it sounds like that was pretty important to you.

And yeah, in America it really isn't all that useful to learn a second language, especially in college. [b]If you need someone who speaks Spanish, there are literally tens of millions of native speakers you can hire.[/b][/quote]
+1 No shortage of Spanish speakers in this country.  Actually, you can probably find native speakers of most major languages in the DC area.[/quote]

I realize I’m wasting my time belaboring this point, but . . .

Hiring a translator won’t cut it when your job involves hopping on a plane to a Spanish speaking country, meeting with Spanish speaking clients, entertaining said clients in local restaurants in Spanish speaking cities, meeting and conducting meetings with local Spanish speaking witnesses, lawyers and government officials, etc.  You don’t - can’t - do all of that with your trusty translator at your hip.

The idea that it is of no benefit in today’s international marketplace to speak a second language because you can just go out and hire a translator is not a very sophisticated one. [/quote]
? I didn't say to hire a translator.   Point is that you can learn a foreign language by hiring a native speaker to teach you.  [/quote]

Lol, right.  Do you have any idea how long that takes?  I’m sorry but you really don’t know what you’re talking about. [/quote]
? I'm bilingual. You think spending close to $100K in four years to speak a foreign language is justified?
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You’re presumably bilingual because you grew up in a bilingual household and not because you went out and hired a native speaker to the point where you are now bilingual.

And you’re obviously one of those people who thinks that everyone should be a STEM major and that there’s no place in the world for the liberal arts.

There is simply no reasoning with folks like you because you will never budge on this.

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You don't have to be a STEM major to be able to get a good paying job with just an undergrad, but 99% you won't be able to find a good paying job with just an undergrad degree in a foreign language.

Also, you could go to community college to learn a foreign language, and/or do a study abroad to immerse yourself in that language and culture.   My DH did that, and was able to fluently speak a particular foreign language after they came back.

There is absolutely no reason to spend $100K to learn to speak a foreign language.  If your parents are wealthy, sure, you could study ceramic making and be fine. But, 99% of people who go to college can't do that. They need a good paying job after college, especially those who take out loans.[/quote]

language skills open the door to a lot of jobs. teaching for one. [/quote]
sure, but you also need a teaching cert and education degree (in many cases) to teach.  Again, language undergrad major alone won't lead to good paying jobs.[/quote]

So your argument that no bachelors that doesn’t lead directly to a “good paying job” is worthwhile? And needing to get any additional credentials means your bachelors was a waste?[/quote]

DP. WVU has to serve its residents, who are amongst the poorest in the nation. They need good paying jobs.

They also need students that will continue to live and work in West Virginia as their population is dwindling.

I don’t know of too many jobs in WV that will pay enough to pull someone out of poverty that require foreign language skills.

The rich can afford to major in areas that do not lead to good paying jobs. How blind are you to the reality that many Americans face? This is why this nation is so divided. The rich and privileged telling everyone that their way is the only right way.

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West Virginia also needs lawyers, doctors, MBAs, social workers, teachers, nurses, administrators, police officers … all jobs for which a BA in Spanish could be a great start. If WV wants to focus on higher education ROI it should cut tuition. [/quote]

WVU has a great nursing program, pre-medical program, administration program, education program, and a law school. No one needs a BA in Spanish as a great start to those ends.

And WVU's tuition is one of the lowest.

Any other great pontificating directions you got?
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You can be a premed Spanish major. You can do law school with a bachelors. Taking real Spanish classes would obviously be tremendously useful for a nursing BN. You can equally get a teaching credential with a Spanish degree as an education degree. Not sure what an “administration” major entails but I’m going to guess Spanish is equally useful. [/quote]

You [b]can [/b]do these things with a Spanish degree, but it would be stupid to do so. You would be making life harder for yourself. What you should do, in each case, is one of the far more obviously useful degrees for each one.[/quote]

look, you want to turn West Virginia’s flagship university into a trade school. Nothing against trade schools, but that’s an extremely sad state of affairs. Not sure if you realize this, but state flagship universities are generally understood to produce scholarship and research, not just degrees. They are academic institutions. Here, WV has decided to gut its academic institutions instead of a) funding appropriately and b) cutting administrative bloat. [/quote]

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