bflatnine Wrote:However, since I'll be applying to grad school, it would probably be more useful to demonstrate an academic background in the language, hence why I want to minor in it.

It's certainly not necessary, though. When I applied for graduate school in Japanese, I had only 2.5 years of formal class in Japanese and my undergraduate degree was in Computer Science, but I got in anyway.

yudantaiteki Wrote:

bflatnine Wrote:However, since I'll be applying to grad school, it would probably be more useful to demonstrate an academic background in the language, hence why I want to minor in it.

It's certainly not necessary, though. When I applied for graduate school in Japanese, I had only 2.5 years of formal class in Japanese and my undergraduate degree was in Computer Science, but I got in anyway.

Of course it isn't necessary. I'm applying for grad school for Chinese, not Japanese. I'm thinking of what would be most beneficial and what would look best on an application. Many of the top PhD programs prefer you to already be proficient in Japanese when you apply, and that means (according to their sites) "three years of university level Japanese." I'd prefer to get that out of the way during undergrad if possible so I can focus on taking classes that actually count toward my degree when I'm doing my MA.

However, I don't think any program would take me with only 2.5 years of Chinese classes, unless it was on a probationary basis. Most MA programs list a BA in Chinese as a requirement for admission, and others require at least 3 years of Chinese classes. And then you continue taking advanced language courses while you're finishing your MA. Many of the top PhD programs want you to already have completed a master's before you apply.


By the way I don't think I mentioned that the language requirements for PhD programs (generally to be met by the end of the second or third year), range anywhere from 4 years of Chinese, 3 years of Japanese, and 2 years of Classical Chinese, to 6 years of Chinese, 4 years of Japanese, 3 years of another East Asian language, and 2 years of French or German. These are minimum requirements, depending on the school. They could require more (either more years or more languages) depending on my research. This is why I'm wanting to get started as early as possible and get as much of it done as possible. Harvard's page (as an example) says that they strongly prefer applicants to already be able to meet all language requirements before applying. Fortunately, they only require Chinese, Japanese, and Classical Chinese (unless they decide during your research that you need to learn more).

Musashi Wrote:Sorry, reading your post makes me wonder if your actually ever applied for a job successfully (and I don't mean flipping burgers at Wendy's).

Actually I just left my Salaried full time position (and no it wasn't stacking shelves) I held for 3 and half years to go back into education because I didn't like where my future was heading.
So much for your reading and comprehension skills, maybe you should go back into schooling too?

and as for the duh comment ####nut, the example levelled at me was a financial position. Which is an easy pick for a Financial degree to prove that theory. Same as a translation Job is an easy pick for a language degree, no it isn't necessary but that little bit of paper with degree opens the door.

I didn't state that all degrees are equal, I even stated certain degrees obviously favour certain job types. But you are too busy being a forum troll to actually read. But pray tell, what Job does English Literature provide? or History.. or Geography. Standard Subjects,
or Music.. Social studies..
In your imaginary world, we should all go take business and finance degrees because that's the only job available and the only way we would ever get an interview. Even though most Of those jobs are taken by recommendation by Tutors and business partners who know the people applying.

I'm going to go write a letter to the country's education board and tell them we need to get rid of every degree type but 2, and that the whole country will be unemployed except for financial analysts.

IceCream Wrote:If you can do that, anythings possible. One of my friends took a language degree & is now working as a journalist on a top international newspaper. But she put tons of effort into stuff around the degree as well. Translation is by no means the only option with a language degree.

You phrased that way better than I could, but I'm still annoyed at troll boy making assumptions about me without evidence.

University is a place for making the contacts as well as getting the education. Also all the little volunteer / charity schemes that constantly run look good on CV's too. I'm thinking about signing up to let the foreign exchange students use me for English practice with no reward for my efforts apart from learning how to help foreigners learn English.

IceCream Wrote:bflatline: if thats what you're aiming for & those are the requirements, you're decision is pretty much already made. Take Japanese as your minor, and attend any other lectures you have time for / are interested in.

Again, the question is not whether to minor in Japanese or not, but whether I should actually take all the Japanese classes, or should I study it at home, test out of as many classes as possible, and just take Japanese classes the last two semesters (since only two are required to be in residence), thereby freeing up time to take other classes.

I think that's the path I'll take. I'll study enough Japanese at home to be able to test out of at least three semesters, and then take 2 upper-level Japanese classes my last year. This way I can take archaeology, art history, and linguistics classes. I'm allowed to minor in up to three things, and art history is a no brainer (in addition to Japanese) for me since I took so many art history classes during my first degree, so I'll only need 2 at UT to have a minor. I can also easily minor in History just by virtue of the fact that I'll have to take several history courses as part of my major. So that's 3 minors (art history, Japanese, and history), and I'll still have room for other electives. But if I take all the Japanese classes instead of studying at home and testing out, I don't think I'll have room for any of that, or maybe just a few electives. The first and second year Japanese classes take up a lot of credits (18 total).

@bflatnine

From your responses, it seems like you've already decided what you want to do. Just make a decision and go for it. It's better than getting advice from people like us that don't know anything about you or your situation or what you are capable of. Only you can make the decision.

Gingerninja Wrote:Actually I just left my Salaried full time position (and no it wasn't stacking shelves) I held for 3 and half years to go back into education because I didn't like where my future was heading.
So much for your reading and comprehension skills, maybe you should go back into schooling too?

and as for the duh comment ####nut, the example levelled at me was a financial position. Which is an easy pick for a Financial degree to prove that theory. Same as a translation Job is an easy pick for a language degree, no it isn't necessary but that little bit of paper with degree opens the door.

I didn't state that all degrees are equal, I even stated certain degrees obviously favour certain job types. But you are too busy being a forum troll to actually read. But pray tell, what Job does English Literature provide? or History.. or Geography. Standard Subjects,
or Music.. Social studies..
In your imaginary world, we should all go take business and finance degrees because that's the only job available and the only way we would ever get an interview. Even though most Of those jobs are taken by recommendation by Tutors and business partners who know the people applying.

I'm going to go write a letter to the country's education board and tell them we need to get rid of every degree type but 2, and that the whole country will be unemployed except for financial analysts.

Wow, we were just saying that if you have a degree that is more relevant to the position you are applying for, it's going to be more in your favour than one that isn't. Noone said that you only need a Finance and Business degree to get every single job ever made available. Of course it isn't true that you can't get job X unless you have degree Y, but a degree in any science field is going to be more beneficial for a certain position than one in dance and drama and vice versa.

Gingerninja Wrote:Financial Jobs obviously need financial qualifications. (well actually judging by how messed up the economy is at the moment, you tell me how great those qualifications are.. great idea lend loads of money to people who can't pay us back ! brilliant why didn't I think of it sooner)

Has nothing to do with qualifications...it's called greed.

@ Gingerninja
OsakaDan already said it (READ above) so I'm not gonna repeat that. And did you also read what I wrote? I said yes there ARE exception but it's a more wise thing to study for the field you're actually planning to work in. Everybody know that but you're just to ig... err... stubborn to admit it, fine by me. And I say again, yes there are exceptions and it depends on the job but you make it sound like we all should drop out of college because like you said: "There are no right and wrong degrees, all it shows is you managed to get through university without making a knob of yourself." What kind of thinking is that, not a very positive one if you ask me. And this 'troll' isn't making any assumptions, I'm just responding to your post and state what I think. And I never said studying for example finance only will yield a finance job only but it would be the obviously thing to do if you wish to work in finance.
And 'my imaginary world', I've been out there working all over the place (NYC, Shanghai, my home country incl.) so it's not that I don't know what I'm talking about. But I'm about to move to a place much closer to you (London), so if you want you can contact me so I can explain it to you in person

Gingerninja Wrote:So much for your reading and comprehension skills, maybe you should go back into schooling too?

And this out-of-the-blue was in reference to...?

OsakaDan Wrote:@bflatnine

From your responses, it seems like you've already decided what you want to do. Just make a decision and go for it. It's better than getting advice from people like us that don't know anything about you or your situation or what you are capable of. Only you can make the decision.

Yup. I'm going to study it at home. Sometimes it's good just to get it out on "paper" and get feedback from different viewpoints so I can think about it more clearly.

Thanks for all the help, everyone.