Chinese language major--should he double major in business or minor in economics

[TVRodriguez]

My 20 year old nephew is an Asian Languages major, concentrating in Chinese.  He is also taking Japanese.  He has some Spanish proficiency, too, but he's better in Chinese and Japanese.

He's debating doing a double major in Business or Economics, or a minor in Economics.  He has no driving ambition for any particular profession.  He loves languages, and he did a 6 week study abroad session this summer in Beijing and loved it.

Anyone have any idea what might be more marketable post-graduation?  He's borrowing heavily for his B.A. already, and he wants to make it count, but he's not sure what to do and I don't know what to tell him.

Thanks for any advice.

[TravelJunkyQC]

Considering the size of the Chinese and Japanese business markets, anything in business alongside those two languages could be very helpful. Management, economics, marketing, finance, etc... I think they would all provide him a pretty solid set of skills.

[Freedomin5]

If I were him, I would double major. I've lived in China for several years now, and they do value "name brand" educations here more so than in the states. So the more "prestigious" accomplishments (ie, majoring rather than minoring) would likely be more helpful. Also, if he were to be in international business in the future, companies will probably appreciate a major in business/Econ rather than a minor.

Also, summer internship experience in business/international business/etc. would probably be helpful.

[bobechs]

The standard and traditional occupation for a person who has a degree in languages is to teach students that language.  To teach in primary or secondary education a teaching credential is vital.  Usually that is acquired by taking the necessary courses to qualify for an education degree alongside the subject matter courses in the target language and its literature/history/sociology as well as perhaps formal linguistics, psychology or computer learning training.

To teach post-secondary a MA is the minimum and PhD is expected  and more or less required.  It's fiercely competitive in the academic humanities these days and the publications treadmill is a fact of life for anyone who goes there.

In business, multi-lingualism is a useful attribute, but mere literacy in Chinese is not especially rare in the world.  Over a billion Chinese are already literate in that language.  Many, many of those have educational attainments far beyond that.  That is not to be negative; just recognize that there is a volume of competition there to.

At the bachelor's level there is some demand  in the military services for multi-lingual persons who can pass the loyalty investigations and meet the physical standards for admission.   With further training, formal university education and experience there is the opportunity to move into other avenues in the national security apparatus.

[TVRodriguez]

TravelJunkyQC, Freedomin5, bobechs, lhamo:

Thanks for taking the time to give some good insight into this issue!  I very much appreciate it, especially some of the very specific information provided.  I've shared some of the points with my nephew (spoke with him last night), and I'll send on to him some more of the specifics for him to read himself.  The internship point is one he really took to heart, as he has heard that from other sources as well.  He's smart and is asking several adults for advice, including his dad's fraternity brothers (one of whom just might be able to get him hooked up with an internship, which would be great).

Fyi, he told me that he's not particularly looking to work in China itself although wouldn't turn it down if offered.  At this point, due to some of the constraints of his University, he is leaning towards keeping the Asian Language/Culture major (concentration in Chinese) and making his minor Economics (pulling it up to a major if he loves it/has the time before graduation/is doing well grade-wise in those courses).

Thanks again!

[SimplyMarvie]

Actually, the traditional path for someone with really strong language skills but no major business interests is probably diplomacy.

More about that at careers.state.gov.

[Tubby]

I can't imagine anyone majoring in Asian languages can't also handle business and economics as a major rather than a minor. You can't hide brilliance.

[Telecaster]

I'm not a fan of the double major, especially if the fields aren't related.  Look at it this way:

If he is hired by some employer for his language proficiency, for example as a teacher, then they don't care about the business major. 

If he is hired by an employer for some business application, then they want the business degree.  Now if the job is in China say, then they may also want Chinese proficiency, but they don't care about the language degree per se.  Lots of people speak perfect Chinese without a degree.

Because the fields aren't related, your nephew will have to take a lot of additional course work for the second major.  That's time and money.   A better use of that time and money is graduate promptly with the degree in Chinese with good grades, and then get an MBA.   An MBA will open a lot more doors than a bachelor's in business, and they typically take about two years.  That's probably not much longer than getting the double major would take, and is much more valuable.   

[TVRodriguez]

Actually, the traditional path for someone with really strong language skills but no major business interests is probably diplomacy.

More about that at careers.state.gov.

Oh, good point.  I'll send him to that to check, too.

[Threshkin]

Actually, the traditional path for someone with really strong language skills but no major business interests is probably diplomacy.

More about that at careers.state.gov.

Oh, good point.  I'll send him to that to check, too.

My eldest step-DD is pursuing an international diplomacy degree.  She is fluent in five languages (English, German, Chinese, Spanish and French).  She did her freshman year at the NYU Shanghai campus and is now at the NYC campus for her sophomore year.

My niece took another path.  Was recruited by the CIA to be an analyst while in High School.  She is fluent in English and Korean.  The CIA gave her a full ride through college in Hawaii.

[Pigeon]

What does he want to be when he grows up?

If he wants to teach Chinese, there's really no point in getting a dual major in business. 

[TVRodriguez]

What does he want to be when he grows up?

If he wants to teach Chinese, there's really no point in getting a dual major in business.

I don't think he knows what he wants to be, but teaching does not seem to be it.  That was one of his original ideas, but he has since changed on that score.