What students, faculty, and recent graduates say about Foreign Language at Principia.

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Opening doors to the world

"I like being able to go into another culture to learn about it," says a senior studying Russian and German. "I think the language really shows so much about a culture. Like in translating, you can't always directly translate each word. There's often a twist on it, because the culture is different." She goes on to say that "when you're learning more than one language, you can compare, for instance, how Germans look at things and how Russians look at things. You get another whole perspective." The foreign languages major, says a senior on the two-language track (versus the three-language track option), "opens doors. There's a lot you can do with foreign languages. It's opened up the world for me."

Demands of becoming a true linguist

Studying two languages at the same time, says a senior foreign languages major, "takes a lot of consistent work and a love of the languages. The most demanding for me is being able to handle two, or even three languages, and keeping up with them." Challenging, says a professor, is "to master more than one language. The true linguist is one who can separate the different languages he or she is working with. Foreign languages majors have to work to keep both languages going at the same time." Success in the foreign languages major, according to one recent graduate, "depends on how much you are willing to participate in the class in order to really get the most out of it." The difference between the foreign languages major and majoring in a specific language, says a professor, is that "students have to do strong work in more than one language. In addition, there are general courses required of the foreign languages student that support the languages study, such as political science, history, philosophy, and art history courses. But foreign languages students do a little less work in each language than they would do if they took a straight major, say in Spanish or French."

Language a valuable commodity

"I just love being able to communicate in a foreign language and the freedom it gives me. I love the sound of it, and having a command of each language," says a senior focusing on French and Russian. A senior who lived in Germany for a year before coming to Principia says she "found that I really liked learning languages, and I wanted to learn another one. It seemed to me that the foreign languages major would incorporate both German and Russian really well." In today's world, says a professor, "you are more valuable if you speak one foreign language than none, even more valuable if you speak two, and more so if you speak three. The foreign languages major gives students the ability to communicate internationally in whatever they do." A recent graduate, who specialized in German and Spanish, works in the communication division of a publishing company. He says he has been "able to apply all of the important techniques of grammar and vocabulary and of understanding culture toward the translations" he's worked on. He also volunteers to read Spanish to inmates at a local prison and adds, "There's always room for growth and to communicate and understand different cultures."

Foreign languages on campus

"I like having all the native speakers on campus — international students whose first language is the language you're learning," says a senior specializing in Russian and Spanish. "The department offers study sessions with these native speakers. Plus, my roommate is Russian, as is another of my good friends. Talking with them really helps my accent." A foreign languages major who works in Principia College's Language Center says she appreciates the resources the center offers foreign languages majors: "We have computers, videos, TVs and VCRs, and tapes to learn from. You can record, and then listen, to your own voice, over and over until you get the accent just right. You can also watch news broadcasts from countries where the language you're learning is spoken." Still, says a senior of her German and Russian studies, "You have to study regularly, every day; you can't put it off. It takes constant work."

Learning language and culture abroad

A senior who went on Principia's Argentina Abroad says she learned from the experience that she "could go to that country, get a job, and live and survive there." She adds, "I'm preparing to go on the Russia Abroad this spring, and hopefully I'll be able to stay in Russia and get a job there." Other recent Principia Abroads have included groups to France, Germany, Austria, and Spain. The Abroad programs are "fun," according to another senior. "If you're still learning the language," she says, "it's a challenge to go into a country and have to speak the language all of the time. When you finally get into it, it's so much fun. It's neat being able to meet new people and see a different way of life." This student went on Principia's Germany Abroad, and more recently, with a few other students studying Russian, designed her own independent abroad to Russia, spending eight weeks in St. Petersburg.

A world of opportunity

"I feel there are a lot of options for me," says a senior foreign languages major. "Teaching, the Peace Corps, being a tour guide, a flight attendant, a translator of literature, going on to grad school, and there's a lot of demand in business for people with foreign languages." Many foreign languages majors who have graduated from Principia, says a professor, "have gone into government-service work. One graduate was able to do international interpreting with group travel." Another graduate, who spent time as manager of the Goodwill Games in Seattle for the foreign language interpretive programs, adds that foreign languages majors may want to add a second, more technical, major like computer science or business administration to complement foreign languages. A recent graduate, now teaching German and French in a private Atlanta school, says she "felt very prepared to go on to graduate school." She adds that although she didn't specialize in education, she was "well-prepared to teach, thanks to a course I took at Prin in teaching foreign languages."