Recently I've been looking at university courses and then my college showed me this website http://www.thestudentworld.com/ and then i saw this http://www.thestudentworld.com/exhibitor...university anyway long story short i'm interested in the Modern language course they offer by my understanding it's Japanese lessons? and am going to meet the people from doshisha on the 17th and i need a good list of questions to ask them, so far i've got; what grades are needed?,will i get any reductions on price(im from the UK), is there a high demand for people with a modern language degree?

this is my first time investigating a uni, i've started a few months earlier then most and need some help also (its a small possibility but may as well ask) is there anyone from doshisha on this forum?

Thanks everyone lets come up with some good thorough questions!!!!

thejoshlord Wrote:is there a high demand for people with a modern language degree?

That's not specific to Dôshisha, and the answer is (regrettably) no, especially not for Japanese. Perhaps combine it with something else, such as art history, a social science or history, or even better business/commerce/econ?

i would ask them how their career networking system is and how easy it is to transition to a career, in both japan and the UK, what kind of jobs people get, what kind of academic prospects are available after graduation, etc.

be relentless in getting answers too, ask them to be specific and name companies and positions...

thejoshlord Wrote:is there a high demand for people with a modern language degree?

That's like asking if there is a high demand for people that speak language X. The answer is: they already have 5% or more of those unemployed, regardless of country.

thurd Wrote:

thejoshlord Wrote:is there a high demand for people with a modern language degree?

That's like asking if there is a high demand for people that speak language X. The answer is: they already have 5% or more of those unemployed, regardless of country.

this assumes that people who took 4 years of language classes 'speak' language X (most dont, or do so terribly). it's more like asking is there a high demand for people who have focused most of their time in university on a language that they can't use... I'm guessing the results would be worse.

well, it's a legit question to ask them. he's asking the recruiters, not you guys.

Thanks guys so modern languages doesn't look like a legit career path then :/ i'll see what they say, i'll ask about after graduation too

once again thank you!

rather than asking schools questions yet, ask yourself some questions.

Take a year out to answer them if you need to, but don't jump into a degree without really thinking about what you want to do afterwards.

* Have a look on http://www.prospects.ac.uk, and learn what kinds of careers are out there for graduates.

* Make a list of careers that are interesting to you. Hopefully these will end up in certain clusters of things that are interesting.

* Find blogs, videos, etc, of people who are doing the careers you're interested in, and try to picture whether you would enjoy doing those jobs in reality.

* Do a real world job search, and find out what the entrance level jobs require in terms of study and work experience. Some graduate schemes will accept anyone with a degree, others will require more specific qualifications. However, if you're planning to do a more general degree, it's important to make sure you're actually interested in any of those options that require a general degree afterwards.

* Choose a degree that will give you a good range of solid options to pursue when you finish. For example, a degree that'll enable you to easily enter a course of further study if needed, or will allow you to apply for many different jobs in the sector you're interested in.

* While at university, it's often extremely helpful to try to get internships, so do your best to work up a list of companies / organisations you can apply to once your degree is started.

* If your interests are particularly split, try taking a year out and doing volunteering work to help decide what you want to do.

Icecream gives some excellent advice.

I'm assuming you don't want to become an engineer or scientist because then you wouldn't be thinking about modern languages. So I would just add that certainly in the UK, the university often matters as much for your later prospects as the subject you study. Britain is really the worst in this sense: any degree from Oxford or Cambridge will open almost all doors for you. The more pointless, the better, because it demonstrates that you're willing to work hard. Most companies will prefer a Classics Oxbridge graduate over someone who actually has relevant knowledge but comes from a "lesser" university... which bothers me to no end. It's a bit better in the US and Canada, but not by much. Obviously in Japan you'll have a harder time if you're not a graduate of the usual suspects: 東大、京大、早稲田、慶応、一橋

In any case, few of us knew what we were going to do later in our lives when we were 19 years old, so getting the best and broadest education you can get now is perhaps more important than the choice of specific subject. You can then later think about a postgraduate degree if the job you want requires it. And you can always add a modern language as an elective or minor or whatever the terminology used in your uni, and that actually looks good on your résumé.

Brilliant advice Irixmark and IceCream thanks for everything, its sooo helpful especially when i don't understand much about university and what comes next, i think the decision im trying to make is whether to keep Japanese as a hobby or use it as a Job, dont get me wrong i will visit Japan no matter what and i do have other options (geology/geography <3) but i just don't want to let the opportunity to study in Japan pass me by(also cant wait to speak fluent Japanese) .

Hey, if geology (or physical geography or earth sciences) is an option for you, you don't have to give up Japanese. Study Japanese on the side, and then go to Japan on exchange, or perhaps on a MEXT scholarship later, perhaps between BSc and MSc. I have a buddy who went to Kyoto University for physical geography. It's a apparently a world-class institution in that field.