Arabic major in college help :)

[Homeschoolingmy3boys]

I posted in college board too hoping for more feedback.  🙂

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!!

[Roadrunner]

Does he have any interest in being in a military? 

If yes, look into this opportunity

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defense_Language_Institute

 

here is a list of schools offering Arabic

https://www.universities.com/programs/arabic-language-and-literature-degrees

Edited February 20, 2019 by Roadrunner

[Homeschoolingmy3boys]

Possibly, the verdict is still out.  He is hoping to attend college before enlisting so he can enlist as an officer and he can play ball.  😀

[Roadrunner]

Definitely look into DLI. I don’t know how they do their recruiting, but there is a language aptitude test he will need to take. Those who score on the higher end will get assigned more difficult languages, like Arabic. It’s an intense 1.5 or so year program and I think they give AA degree (don’t quote me on that). I once met a guy who was an officer and ended up going there and working at embassies as a military attaché. A great career! 

[Lanny]

What grade is he in?  It is too late for this year, but he may want to apply for one of the programs on this URL. These are U.S. State Department programs to encourage learning languages such as Arabic.  https://exchanges.state.gov/highschool/

(My DD is a Semi-Finalist for one of their programs. NSLI-Y)

 

 

[Homeschoolingmy3boys]

10th....will check it out...thanks

[8filltheheart]

I do not know a Christian school, but I think that you are going to have a hard time finding Arabic as a major at a Christian U.  We couldn't even find Russian as a major in our entire state.  But Ole Miss has an Arabic Flagship program https://olemiss.edu/arabic/ (language flagships have the highest language goals of any program) and their Croft Program for IS is solid: http://www.croft.olemiss.edu/home/

[Homeschoolingmy3boys]

Thanks!  I haven't been on the forum in many a year but I remember you... 😊  Hope you are doing well...thanks for the info...I figured it would be hard to find but thought I'd check to see if you all knew of any.  I am hoping to stay not too far away we are in VA. 

 

[Homeschoolmom3]

I accidentally logged in wrong ... Homeschoolmom3 was my old user name...trying to log back in.

[mom1720]

Not straight up Arabic, but if you're willing to consider Catholic schools, DePaul in Chicago has an Arabic studies major. Might be too far for you, though.

[8filltheheart]

UMD has a flagship: https://sllc.umd.edu/department/arabic-flagship

[Homeschoolmom3]

I'm not familiar with a flagship?

 

[madteaparty]

I have a hard time finding schools with real french departments never mind arabic, but, off the top of my head(never having looked for an Arabic major), look into IU, UMD, Wisconsin, BYU, Middlebury.

Edited February 20, 2019 by madteaparty

[8filltheheart]

13 hours ago, Homeschoolmom3 said:

I'm not familiar with a flagship?

 

www.thelanguageflagship.org

Majoring in a FL should be researched carefully. Not all depts are even close to equal.

Edited February 21, 2019 by 8FillTheHeart

[SoCal_Bear]

Did someone mention this one in Monterey? You do have to be in the military to attend though. I have friends who went to this program. 

http://www.dliflc.edu/home/about/

 

Edited February 21, 2019 by calbear

[mumto2]

FYI......not super helpful but this might help someone’s memory.  I seem to remember someone’s Dd was going to major in Arabic about 3 years ago and there were a large number of posts about her college visits etc. I think she ended up at Ole Miss........there was a school around DC that was seriously looked at also I believe.

[Homeschoolmom3]

Thanks everyone, yes we are looking on the East coast...preferably near VA.  Thank for all of your ideas!!

[8filltheheart]

1 hour ago, Homeschoolmom3 said:

Thanks everyone, yes we are looking on the East coast...preferably near VA.  Thank for all of your ideas!!

I have a little more time now. I have mentioned in my posts on your threads that the depts need to be investigated bc not all depts are equal. The reason that is important is bc "fluency" is thrown around like it has a universal definition. When you dig into language, that is not the case. And when it comes to some languages, Arabic being amg them, becoming fluent is incredibly complex due to regional differences, written vs spoken differences, on top of the complexity of mastering a script language. There is no way a school offering 4 semesters of Arabic is producing graduates who are fluent to the point where their language skills are employable at a translation/interpretation type level.

If you are not familiar with with ACTFL or CEFR  

https://www.actfl.org/publications/guidelines-and-manuals/actfl-proficiency-guidelines-2012 

https://www.coe.int/en/web/common-european-framework-reference-languages/illustrations-of-levels

I recommend understanding how language skills are assessed and what the goals are for different depts. Language acquisition is not the goal of most Us. Basic mastery of language fundamentals and culture exposure is far more the norm. Movement between levels (like moving from intermediate high to advanced high) requires significant language acquisition. Getting to superior is going to be restricted to schools with language acquisition as a focus like the language flagships. 

To give you an idea, my Dd enetered college as a B1+ in Russian. I do not believe her language skills have progressed much beyond there at this point. She was progressing more rapidly in high school. She is planning her study abroad, and that is going to help, but bc of all of the aspects of language acquisition, it is not like she will move from B1 to C fom a single semester abroad.  Professional level functionality is C level.  (Her French, otoh, is definitely at that pt. But she was watching French movies and reading French novels in high school). Getting to a C level in Russian is going to take her a lot more concentrated effort.

If your student knows what his long-term goals are, he needs to look beyond schools offering Arabic and delve into the actual language acquisition skills of the avg student in the program.  

Edited February 21, 2019 by 8FillTheHeart

[....]

Don't quote...I'm going to come back and delete this in a couple of days.

I graduated from the Presidio (DLI) as an Arabic linguist.  Feel free to PM me if you have any questions.  My WTM account hasn't been working very well the last couple of weeks, so...doing my best to log back on here.