Homeschoolingmy3boys Posted February 20, 2019 Share Posted February 20, 2019 My son wants to be a linguist focusing on Arabic and then Spanish. He wants to eventually work within the government agencies or possibly military. I am having a hard time finding a university that offers Arabic as a major, I really wanted a Christian college university as well. Anyone have any ideas? Thanks!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HomeAgain Posted February 20, 2019 Share Posted February 20, 2019 Linguists in the military have their own language school(s). If he is serious about pursuing military/government work, I'd suggest a degree that would enhance that (not necessarily an Arabic language, but a more general studies in sociology and linguistics as a whole). If he passes a DLAB, he could take Arabic on the military's dime in an intensive, year+ course that is all day, 8-3/M-F. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homeschoolingmy3boys Posted February 20, 2019 Author Share Posted February 20, 2019 Thanks for responding...he was hoping to attend college and play ball. 😛 If he doesn't get a good scholarship we will probably look into that option. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homeschoolingmy3boys Posted February 20, 2019 Author Share Posted February 20, 2019 Any suggestions on the type of linguistics major? Not up with any liberal arts majors...my first son was all stem and so was my husband and I. 😉 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J-rap Posted February 20, 2019 Share Posted February 20, 2019 (edited) Another thought is he could do a Middle Eastern Studies degree, which often includes at least a taste of the Arabic language, even if they don't have an Arabic language degree. Then concentrate more on the language in graduate school. My dh had similar goals. He studied Spanish in high school, French in college, and Arabic in graduate school. In college, he studied French for three or four years but majored in political science and history. For graduate school, he went to Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (in D.C.), which is often a feeder school into government jobs. It's an excellent school. (He was obviously in the Middle Eastern Studies program there, which required a proficiency in Arabic by the time you graduate.) We did spend some time living in the Middle East then after that. (Then changed paths when we were ready to start a family.) Edited February 20, 2019 by J-rap Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maize Posted February 20, 2019 Share Posted February 20, 2019 What grade is he? Has he looked into https://www.nsliforyouth.org A cousin of mine is a military Arabic linguist, they taught her. My dd15 went to the Arabic STARTALK program at BYU last year, it was a really great introduction to the language and she is planning to go back this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homeschoolingmy3boys Posted February 20, 2019 Author Share Posted February 20, 2019 Thanks for the info...will look into that! He has studied Latin for 6 years, then moved on to Arabic the past two years and plans to take college Arabic finishing out high school and then he is adding Spanish for the next two years. Not my domain. Ha! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homeschoolingmy3boys Posted February 20, 2019 Author Share Posted February 20, 2019 He's in 10th grade this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HomeAgain Posted February 20, 2019 Share Posted February 20, 2019 3 minutes ago, Homeschoolingmy3boys said: Any suggestions on the type of linguistics major? Not up with any liberal arts majors...my first son was all stem and so was my husband and I. 😉 Sorry, not really. There are degree programs if he wants to go backward - take up Arabic with the military and complete a degree with it at the Monterey Peninsula College at the same time. International Studies are popular, too, and there are several schools that offer those, but you really have to search them out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maize Posted February 20, 2019 Share Posted February 20, 2019 BYU has a good Arabic program/major if he wouldn't mind being a religious minority at the school. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homeschoolingmy3boys Posted February 20, 2019 Author Share Posted February 20, 2019 Thanks for the ideas...you all are great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caroline Posted February 20, 2019 Share Posted February 20, 2019 I believe University of North Georgia has Arabic. I think they have summer programs for high schoolers in languages, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AFwife Claire Posted February 20, 2019 Share Posted February 20, 2019 My second son's girlfriend is at Cedarville, majoring in linguistics with Arabic and Spanish being her 2 languages that she is fluent in. She is a junior, and she spent spring semester of her sophomore year over in Spain, and then fall semester of this school year over in Jordan. She is hoping to do government work with her linguistics degree. Cedarville is a wonderful Christian university! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homeschoolmom3 Posted February 20, 2019 Share Posted February 20, 2019 Thanks Claire that is good to know! Funny they picked the same two languages 😊 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8filltheheart Posted February 20, 2019 Share Posted February 20, 2019 13 minutes ago, AFwife Claire said: My second son's girlfriend is at Cedarville, majoring in linguistics with Arabic and Spanish being her 2 languages that she is fluent in. She is a junior, and she spent spring semester of her sophomore year over in Spain, and then fall semester of this school year over in Jordan. She is hoping to do government work with her linguistics degree. Cedarville is a wonderful Christian university! I just looked at Cedarville's website. I don't see an Arabic major, only ME studies. If you look in their course catalog they only offer 4 semesters of direct language classes. https://publications.cedarville.edu/academiccatalogs/2018-2019/258-259/ I would not consider it a viable option. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homeschoolmom3 Posted February 20, 2019 Share Posted February 20, 2019 Thanks for the head's up. 🙂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoggirl Posted February 21, 2019 Share Posted February 21, 2019 (edited) Ole Miss (University of MIssissippi) has a Flagship Arabic program. They offer both a major and a minor. You might also check out their Croft Institute of International Studies which has a Middle Eastern Studies track within it. You choose a region and a thematic concentration. Students enter the Croft Institute as freshmen through a selective process. There is also a minor in International Studies. https://olemiss.edu/arabic/index.htm https://www.croft.olemiss.edu/home/ Ole Miss is quite generous with merit scholarships. They have an Honors College which is by application (not just based on grades and test scores). It’s obviously not a Christian School, but there will be no shortage of Christians there. EDIT: Here are schools that offer a Flagship Arabic program: https://thelanguageflagship.org/content/arabic Edited February 21, 2019 by Hoggirl 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoggirl Posted February 21, 2019 Share Posted February 21, 2019 Georgetown has an Arabic Major. They are known for their linguistics, too. Lots of opportunity for internships in DC. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lewelma Posted February 21, 2019 Share Posted February 21, 2019 My nephew is studying Arabic and Near East Studies at Princeton. He is currently on scholarship in Jordan in an immersion program. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corraleno Posted February 21, 2019 Share Posted February 21, 2019 23 hours ago, Homeschoolingmy3boys said: Thanks for responding...he was hoping to attend college and play ball. 😛 If he doesn't get a good scholarship we will probably look into that option. What sport does he play, how recruitable is he, and is he looking for an athletic scholarship? Is he thinking NCAA Division I/II or NAIA? I think it may be difficult finding a school that checks all three of your boxes: Christian, offers an Arabic major, and coach wants to recruit him, especially if you are hoping for athletic money. A linguistics major is one option, but that's not a particularly common major either. Most of the schools that offer a true major are large universities, and even some of those don't offer it. At smaller schools that do offer it as a major, it's often cobbled together from "Language and...." courses (...Mind, Culture, Philosophy, Society, Literature, etc.) that are taught in other departments. If playing ball in college is a priority, and your DS is recruitable, then I think you probably need to start there, because that will be the biggest limiting factor. Make a list of all the schools that are (or might be) interested in him, then look at what majors they offer that come close to what he wants, and look at the resources on campus for Christian students. If you can hit two out of three criteria (e.g., athletic scholarship + Christian, but closest major is Sociology or IR; or athletic scholarship + Linguistics major, but at a state flagship with lots of Christian student organizations), that's still a pretty good deal. FWIW, my son is majoring in linguistics, has an athletic scholarship, and was looking for Turkish as at least a minor. He was one of the top 3 recruits in his application year, with multiple national & international medals, and could pretty much choose any college in the country that offered his sport. The Venn diagram of schools that offer athletic scholarships + a true linguistics major + Turkish has a single school in the center. All of his other options lacked at least one of those criteria, and some lacked two of the three. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homeschoolmom3 Posted February 21, 2019 Share Posted February 21, 2019 (edited) Thank you all for your ideas...a lot to chew on. I was looking at other majors with Arabic as a minor. I was excited to see some of the ideas for summer immersion programs that would be a good for him as well. He is hoping for a basketball scholarship but hey he is only 6'2" right now so he needs to get a bit more height but he is getting there and has two more years to grow...the doc always said he'd be 6'4" so not center positions. So we are looking at more Division II and probably NAIA. Christian school is very important to us and we are really hoping to make it happen- but money talks. Ha! We got lucky with my first he was a national merit student so got free tuition at Liberty. This son may he is close to getting scores but who knows and I know he won't be making the basketball team there! Whoever mentioned Princeton that's awesome but don't think that's in the cards here for us. Thanks for sharing stories and ideas you all have encountered...this is definitely new territory for me! Edited February 21, 2019 by Homeschoolmom3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G5052 Posted February 23, 2019 Share Posted February 23, 2019 (edited) If the military is a possibility, you might look into the National Guard or Reserves at some point. Some of the career paths would line up very well with being a linguist, and it can pay for school while giving the student excellent resume material. Some career paths come with a clearance which helps with job hunting. They are covering my son's college expenses and more (he lives at home). He also got a signing bonus. You do this of course with the idea that you can be deployed at any time stateside or overseas and have a commitment for some years. You have to go through all of the training that active duty folks do, which may mean two summers or a semester or more off of school. It's been really good for him. Edited February 23, 2019 by G5052 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanny Posted February 27, 2019 Share Posted February 27, 2019 On 2/23/2019 at 10:38 AM, G5052 said: If the military is a possibility, you might look into the National Guard or Reserves at some point. Some of the career paths would line up very well with being a linguist, and it can pay for school while giving the student excellent resume material. Some career paths come with a clearance which helps with job hunting. They are covering my son's college expenses and more (he lives at home). He also got a signing bonus. You do this of course with the idea that you can be deployed at any time stateside or overseas and have a commitment for some years. You have to go through all of the training that active duty folks do, which may mean two summers or a semester or more off of school. It's been really good for him. With regard to Enlisted personnel (I am not sure if this also applies to Officers) there are some languages that they will pay a Monthly Bonus for proficiency. It goes up to a maximum $1000 per month bonus. Starts at $50 a month. Depends upon the language. Those receiving the Bonus must demonstrate proficiency on an annual basis and I assume it is limited to people in certain jobs. I know the U.S. Army offers that and possibly/probably other branches also have those bonuses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maize Posted February 27, 2019 Share Posted February 27, 2019 3 hours ago, Lanny said: With regard to Enlisted personnel (I am not sure if this also applies to Officers) there are some languages that they will pay a Monthly Bonus for proficiency. It goes up to a maximum $1000 per month bonus. Starts at $50 a month. Depends upon the language. Those receiving the Bonus must demonstrate proficiency on an annual basis and I assume it is limited to people in certain jobs. I know the U.S. Army offers that and possibly/probably other branches also have those bonuses. I know Air Force officers who get the bonus, though it's a program that changes frequently as to amounts and which languages are eligible. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retiredHSmom Posted March 3, 2019 Share Posted March 3, 2019 Virginia Military Institute has an Arabic language program Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homeschoolmom3 Posted March 3, 2019 Share Posted March 3, 2019 Thanks for all of your suggestions...funny you mentioned VMI, my brother attended there and they have a high school program for the summer there too. I think he will probably do an international studies major with Arabic as his foreign language. Seems like more opportunities there and where he can go military or CIA whatever he decides after college. It has been fun learning about all options and really appreciate all of your ideas and thoughts! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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