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riverboy
Joined: 03 Jun 2003
Location: Incheon
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 Posted: Sun Sep 19, 2004 5:04 am Post subject: |
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| I would say study English, but the language to know for the future is Chinese and if she can get a double major, then she will have the world by the balls. |
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Derrek
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Mon Sep 20, 2004 4:01 am Post subject: |
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| ladyandthetramp wrote: |
You're doing the right thing. If she wants to study it only for personal interest, that's one thing, but if she expects to get a good job with an English degree, she is mistaken. There are lots of Koreans who speak English, and in the future even more. Companies will hire someone who speaks English and has a degree in another useful field.
Or maybe you could suggest she do a double major. |
I had a talk with her yesterday, and this is exactly what I did. I'm pretty sure she'll go after the English degree. High school students have to track or all of that stuff so early, it seems.
Her other problem is a typical one: she doesn't know what else she wants to do. She hates computers and electronic stuff. |
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Derrek
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Mon Sep 20, 2004 4:02 am Post subject: |
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| the_beaver wrote: |
| Derrek wrote: |
Care to share the names of some of these businesses?
I have jobless Korean friends who speak English and have degrees, or have jobs that they don't make much at.
You could do a good deed and be helpful. |
Her old company was Saehan Logistics and is a mid-sized shipping company. Her new company's name escapes me at the moment but is also a shipping company. |
Ever notice that there are SO MANY shipping and import/export companies in Korea? Seems like every other gal I meet works for one of these places. |
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Drakoi
Joined: 26 Sep 2003
Location: The World
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| Posted: Mon Sep 20, 2004 5:40 am Post subject: |
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| Learning communication arts is a fine pursuit, but it really doesn't matter if you know how to speak well if you have nothing to say. |
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Son Deureo!
Joined: 30 Apr 2003
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| Posted: Mon Sep 20, 2004 9:01 am Post subject: |
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| True that. |
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Ryst Helmut
Joined: 26 Apr 2003
Location: In search of the elusive signature...
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| Posted: Mon Sep 20, 2004 12:36 pm Post subject: Re: Trying to influence students: Don't study English at Un |
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| Derrek wrote: |
Her English isn't that great, because she's not overly talkative, but she is one of the better ones in class.
Am I wrong to try to steer her away from studying English as her major in University?
Is it wrong for me to suggest studying something else? |
Yes.
Sorry, Derrek, but guess what.....at the universities that I am accustomed to, the English majors are poorer in their English skills than say....the education, chemistry, nursing/pre-med, and a few other majors.
You should in no way discourage her. Man, what are you going to tell your kids when they say, 'Daddy, I wanna be a fireman!' Umm, sorry, you can't....but how about an EFL Teacher?
Shissa, man...if I listened to all the people who said I should go try for a trade school, as college would be too difficult for me....(several doctoral programs have accepted me).
I would, however, help her/her mother understand that it would be most beneficial to be as near fluency as possible, while having a BA/BS in another field, that is, unless she decides on being a teacher. A double major would be nice, but for the life of me I can't think of a student that has one (in Korea).
Also, getting into an English Lang. and Lit. program isn't like in the west where we 'choose' our major. Entrance exams, and other exams will place her in the language of her major...whether she likes it or not.
Our univ. went like this:
Top 1/2 of student body wishing to be in the language division of humanities got to choose between English or Chinese (if more than 25% of that group desired to be in English, then the remaining students were placed in the Chinese program). The other half went into languages like German.
!Shoosh
Ryst |
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Ya-ta Boy
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Location: Established in 1994
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| Posted: Tue Sep 21, 2004 1:42 am Post subject: |
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She asked your opinion.
You gave her your answer.
The decision is not yours to make. You have done what she asked. Now it is time for you to bite your tongue and support her in her decision. |
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JennyJJ
Joined: 01 Mar 2003
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| Posted: Tue Sep 21, 2004 3:13 am Post subject: |
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Ryst is on track here - as are several others.
One, there aren't really all that many straight English majors compared to other departments - and maybe these kids really need it! Two, more and more students are doing double majors - not unusual at all now. Doing a double major is a good idea really.
English is not all that bad a major - it's not like most of us computed future earnings when we went to university. Or . . . maybe we wouldn't be here! Or, maybe we would be!
Would also argue that Chinese is not the language of the future. India will rival China eventually - and really the language is all about INTERNATIONAL business - not just trade with China. Do you really think that businesspeople in Brazil are going to start studying Chinese? Ain't gonna happen.
AND, the issue of trade with China is quite overblown. The GNP of Japan is still 3.6 times greater than that of China. Not to mention the 38 times greater GNP per person.
Note http://www.scaruffi.com/politics/gnp.html
They have a long long way to go. Maybe we should be studying Japanese? |
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