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S.C.S.U. Foreign Languages Department alumni have had years to reflect back
on their education, appreciate what they learned, think about other things they
wished they had learned as undergraduates. They have a lot of observations
which can be useful to today's undergraduates. Here are some of them:
 Q.
Please describe what you learned
as an undergraduate at Southern that helped you
in your career.
Alumni answers:
 | "Proficiency in speaking German." |
| "Proficiency in Spanish and French." |
| "Confidence in using Spanish." |
| "An understanding of literature." |
| "The ability to think critically." |
| "The ability to translate opera scores in French and Italian as well
as perfect pronunciation; the ability to do research and read in those
languages." |
| "The ability to speak Spanish, which has been useful in my nursing
career." |
| "I learned how little I knew about the richness of Hispanic
cultures." |
| "Teaching skills." |
| "The ability to speak in front of a group." |
| "Public speaking." |
| "How to research companies." (Comment from a double major
in Communications) |
| "Writing and research skills." |
| "I learned I love traveling and languages." |
| "At Southern I had the opportunity to travel abroad." |
| "The ability to stroke the right people's egos, to be able to get
things done. This is helpful in any organization." |
| "I learned persistence; not to give up on achieving your goals." |
| "The ability to meet deadlines." |
| "A passion for thinking, learning, teaching. I don't think I
have ever found so much support from teachers after I left S.C.S.U." |
| "Self confidence and people skills." |
| "The ability to speak intelligently with superiors and clients; the
ability to speak Spanish with our West Coast customers; computer
skills" |
| "I believe that my study abroad helped me as much or more than my
study at Southern." |
Q. What did you NOT
learn at Southern that WOULD
HAVE HELPED you in your career?
Alumni answers:
| "Computer skills." |
| "A second language [beyond my major]." |
| "Business German." |
| "How to use a P.C. and current software." |
| "Computer skills." |
| "Better conversational skills in Spanish." |
| "Not that we needed another required course, but computer education
would have been good." |
| "(This has nothing to do with the Foreign Languages Department), but
I wish more of the university requirement courses had had higher
expectations of students. Many of these didn't reinforce a strong work
ethic or study skills. |
| "It would have been helpful to have access to some business German
and French as well as literature classes." |
| "I should have combined language skills with another field.
More computer skills would have helped a lot." |
| "I have not learned computer skills. I am computer
illiterate." |
| "A double major in business or marketing." |
| "Marketing, business math, computer skills." |
| "More classes on Hispanic cultures would have been helpful." |
| "Speaking in front of a group." |
| "Negotiating skills." |
| "Computer skills and a second foreign language." |
| "Computer skills." |
| "More and better computer skills would have been a plus. Like
Power Point." |
| "It would have helped a great deal if I had been required to interact
with Spanish speaking people." |
| "More history, art history, geography, and culture." |
| "More conversation courses in French and Spanish." |
| "Classroom management and discipline." |
| "More computer skills and behavior management techniques."
(comment from a teacher) |
| "More computer skills and critical thinking and analyzing, which I
learned at Middlebury." |
| "Computer software, educational software, and classroom management
skills." |
| "Computer skills." |
Q. What career
advice would you give to a freshman
at S.C.S.U. who had a love of foreign languages and a desire to major in a
language?
Alumni answers: |
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| "I would say 'Go for it!' However, I would caution them to
minor in a subject that's practical, like business or communications.
I would also encourage an internship and definitely a study abroad
program." |
| "Do it! It got me my job!" |
| "Major in a language, but minor in something else. Unless you
have a teaching certificate, there's little you can do (that pays well) with
a major in Spanish only." |
| "Follow your dream, and don't let anyone take that opportunity of
learning other languages and cultures away from you." |
| "Stick with it and see it through. It's a wonderful gift to be
able to converse in another language." |
| "Follow through. Get as much exposure as possible to any
language or culture. It not only helps in a career but it helps you
become a well-rounded person." |
| "Speak, read, and write the language as much as you can. Travel
is a must. Explore and enjoy different cultures. Don't
wait to take Praxis II." |
| "Majoring in a language is a smart idea as we enter a growing global
community. Future generations will spend more time communicating with
others of different languages." |
| "Unless you intend to teach, it is imperative to add some marketable
skills, such as business, art history, etc." |
| "Study abroad." |
| "You need to combine the languages with another field. You need
to research what jobs are associated with your particular language.
You need to think of specific jobs that will use your language skills." |
| "If you are not going exclusively into the teaching field, have some
background in economics, business, political science." |
| "Have minors in other disciplines." |
| "Pursue a language degree, but consider a double major (e.g.,
business or marketing)." |
| "My advice would be to try and use the language as much as possible
while you are in school. One thing I regret is the fact that after
graduate I really didn't speak the language as much." |
| "Combine a foreign language with business." |
| "Specialize in an additional area, such as teaching, nursing, or
business. My degree was in Spanish only and without another 'specialty' it
was difficult to market myself." |
| "Be aware that if you are going to market yourself
on a language alone, most organizations want you to be a NATIVE
speaker rather than an English speaker with a lot of language courses." |
| "Study Latin. Study abroad. Add a minor in another
area if you are not planning on teaching." |
| "Don't limit yourself to 'paper language.' You must speak and
listen to really learn the language. Good knowledge of another
language is a real plus in the global economy -- it gives you so much more
opportunity." |
| "Have a dual major, in computer science or accounting." |
| "Watch Spanish T.V. Read as many current Spanish magazines as
you can. Listen to all types of Latin music. Make the language a
part of your daily life." |
| "Study abroad for a year or more." |
 Q.
Given your experience, do you think that a degree in Liberal Studies,
with two or three minors, would be useful in the job market (for example, such
combinations as Spanish/marketing/computer science; or Italian/art
history/management)?
Alumni answers: Please note here
that alumni who are now teaching a language are not strongly in
favor of having minors instead of a major. It's also
possible that the question to alumni was phrased in such a way that it wasn't clear that
for the Liberal Studies degree, the three minors are studied instead
of one major. People working in business are more enthusiastic about the
idea. But as you can see, reviews are mixed.
| "Absolutely!" |
| "I think so." |
| "This would not be as important in the education field, but in the
business world it would be a smart idea." |
| "Yes, definitely." |
| "Yes." |
| "Yes." |
| "Definitely, yes!" |
| "Yes!!" |
| "Yes, but I wonder if a minor is enough to get by with." |
| "No. I believe it is better to have a more in-depth knowledge
of one or two areas." |
| "Most definitely." |
| "Yes." |
| "Yes." |
| "Perhaps for a career in public relations, museum work, magazine
publishing..." |
| "Business subjects would be helpful." |
| "Yes." |
| "Spanish -- with marketing, business management, computer
science." |
| "Yes, to expose a student to many options." |
| "Yes. Versatility is the key in any job market." |
| "Yes. Spanish and computer skills are the top two items looks for
on résumés. Spanish landed me my first radio job!" |
| "Yes!" |
| "Yes." |
| "Personally, no. Two or three minors don't make anyone
proficient in any given area." |
| "No. I really think you need a major." |
| "I do think this combination would be helpful to some. Very
often the job that you really want is not available and you must do
something else." |
| "Absolutely! A foreign language and business experience is
golden! There is a great need for the combination -- everywhere!" |
| "Yes, indeed." |
| "Absolutely." |
| "Hard to say. I suppose having experience in 2 or 3 fields
would be valuable, but I also think specialization is important.
Supervisors and management in charge of hiring sometimes want to see
that. This is not to undermine the value of a well-rounded liberal
arts degree but simply to emphasize the importance of a concentration." |
| "Not necessary for teaching, but would be good." |
| "Yes, very useful." |
| "Yes." |
| "Yes!" |
| "No, I think people need to specialize. While unemployment is
low, high-paying jobs are hard to come by." |
| "I can't really say." |
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