Language skill alone not enough

I think the point to remember is, language skill alone is not enough. Wish someone had told me that earlier in my student years, though I was probably too idealistic to listen if they did. U.S. employers see it at best as a fringe benefit, a “that’s nice, but what else can you do", i.e. accounting, MBA, engineer, etc; unless you double-major in a more “practical” field, you’ve got a hard climb in the US job market. Many FL students go on to become high school teachers, at least in the major European languages (French, Spanish, German and sometimes Latin). But I agree career paths are limited, though I’d say English and Fine Arts are on about the same footing as FL majors; FL majors should not be under any illusions that they’re any better off than any other liberal arts major, though.

I was lucky enough to land a job with a large, international insurance firm where I actually did get to use German in the workplace, and it was appreciated. The pay was mediocre, and the job was ultimately pretty dead-end, but for a time in my 20s, it was the funnest job I had ever had (after bailing out of high school teaching, which I despised). While at that job, I also took Spanish in night school. I could’ve applied for tuition reimbursements, but those always came with strings attached, such as an agreement to work for 1 full year for *every course* they paid for, and as a result, no one took advantage of it, for fear of being tied down. I understand the company wanting to recoup on investment, but more people would’ve taken classes like that if the incentives weren’t so burdensome, enhancing employee skill sets greatly.

With the push towards Arabic study abroad opportunities, I have mixed feelings. Clearly there will be a lot of incentive for such people to drift to careers in various “Three letter” agencies of the U.S. Government. On the other hand, many students, after a stay abroad, might grow more sympathetic to the plight of the Arab world and experience a revulsion towards the American National Security apparatus. Also, probably these would be among the most idealistic students opting to go abroad to Arabic speaking countries, where the local infrastructure is lacking and the student lifestyle is spartan at best. They will also be painfully aware that the ongoing actions of the U.S. government will make all of them all potential targets and scapegoats for local zealots, even if they go someplace more relatively quiet like Morocco.

Also, some of the more restrictive features of life in most Arabic countries, especially for women, is another dis-incentive for students to choose a year abroad there as opposed to, say, France or Germany or Japan.

The average U.S. college student isn’t going to appreciate somewhere where they have to be vigilant about modesty in dress, refrain from ANY alcohol consumption, strictly avoid any extracurricular bedroom exploits with the natives, etc, while those are basically non-issues in most of Europe.

The main grouping of U.S. students that would have the “easiest” time adapting to such restrictive lifestyles in the Arabic-speaking world would be those already in religious communites with simliar strictures, like Mormons, or other Christian sects; they would have to resist the urge to prostelytize, as that could literally endanger their own lives, depending on the local climate.

While I would like to see more Americans studying abroad, including in the Arabic speaking world, I think there are formidable obstacles to overcome in expanding study abroad for the study of Arabic, even for more ostensibly “liberal” locales like Dubai, UAE.

JJR, at 9:55 am EDT on June 18, 2008

Response to Dr. K

Dr. K —

I personally would prefer not to think “anything learned but not included in one’s job description is “useless ornament.”” And I know that “in all those courses the students are doing... more than practicing vocabulary and conjugating verbs.” However, I think you’ll find that the attitudes I’ve depicted are *extremely* widespread and ultimately harmful to those who would believe in acting otherwise.

Comments about “the point of higher education today seems to be to increase graduates’ salaries” miss the point (no discourtesy intended!). Too many of these graduates have no related position and many of them don’t have a salary at all relevant to their degree. Some of these people even have second non-language “practical” degrees which have proved useless in locating relevant employment.

The ideals of promoting international awareness or cross-cultural understanding are extremely thin gruel for people struggling economically. The more commercially-minded find they are just as unwelcome in a society that hews to racial stereotyping in this (and all too many other) areas of endeavor. To paraphrase a colleague, it’s not what you know, it’s skin and surname. Again, I’m appalled by the attitude, but it would be extremely foolish not to recognize that it exists.

Scrawed, at 5:50 am EDT on June 20, 2008