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Why study a foreign language in college?
"Speak another language. Foreign language courses are the best-kept secret on campus. Many students arrive with enough skills to test out of a college's language requirement. But language was the most commonly mentioned among 'favorite classes.' Sixty percent of students put them in the category of 'hard work but pure pleasure'; 57 percent of those interviewed again after leaving college recommended not testing out. Why? Classes are small, instructors insist on participation, students work in groups, and assignments include lots of written work and frequent quizzes, allowing for repeated midcourse corrections. In short, foreign language courses combine all the elements that lead to more learning and more engagement."
[From New York Times (4/8/01), article by Kate Zernike, on Making the Most of College (Harvard UP, 2001), by Richard J. Light.]
Why study a foreign language, anyway? Are there any career opportunities?
The vast majority of SUNY Oneonta graduates find jobs and careers in which foreign languages are essential. The most familiar career path for the foreign language major is teaching-- but there are also many other opportunities, such as: Translating and Interpreting, Government Service, Educational Administration, Counseling and Social Work. In addition to these fields, there are virtually countless careers in which a foreign language is an important auxiliary skill, such as: Business and Industry, Medicine and Hospital Administration, Law Enforcement, and not least, Travel and Tourism.