If you’re a language person, you’re a language person. Some people aren’t language people, but those who enjoy learning languages, and who thrive in other cultures, should consider majoring in a foreign language in college. Mastery of a foreign language can lead to jobs in policy, in government, in education, in journalism, and even internationally.
The first, and most important, thing to do if you are considering majoring in a foreign language in college is to take the hardest classes you can in whatever language or languages you are studying in high school. Even if the language you want to study in college isn’t offered by your high school, you need to illustrate to application readers that you are a language person by taking whatever you can take and excelling in it.
Outside of the classroom, you’ll want to focus your extracurriculars on opportunities to apply your language skills and gain cultural awareness, as most collegiate language programs also require culture and history courses.
Below are four extracurriculars that will amplify your application if you want to major in a foreign language.
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Language “Table” or Club
The simplest extracurricular to join or, if necessary, start, is a language “table” or club. A language table is a group of people who get together, typically during lunch or after the school day, to speak in a language in an immersive and conversational setting that isn’t the classroom. It should be a place to have fun, to laugh, to make mistakes, and to practice speaking casually. If your school doesn’t have a language club or “table” for the language you are studying — start one!
Language-Focused Volunteer Opportunity
You should also find a language-centric volunteer opportunity that will use your burgeoning skills! This should be a cultural group, a bilingual school, a nonprofit that serves the community that speaks the language you are studying, or another opportunity with a non-profit that could use your language skills. When looking for a volunteer opportunity, it’s important to be really aware of and honest about your level of mastery. We often recommend students start out by volunteering as reading buddies in bilingual classrooms, because it’s fun, it’s relaxing, and it can help you pinpoint where you are conversationally in a language.
Cultural Group or Club
Learning a language isn’t just about vocabulary and grammar. In college, you’ll also be expected to study the culture and history of the language, often with a geographic focus if your language of choice is spoken in more than one country or region. To show your diverse understanding of language, you should join or start a cultural group or club. When planning club activities, food is a great gateway to understanding. Host a tasting event featuring cultural specialties!
Summer Immersion Program
Perhaps the most helpful thing you could do to help your application is a summer immersion program in your language of focus. While there are many language immersion programs that require international travel (and have the price tag to match), that isn’t the only way to immerse yourself linguistically and culturally. You don’t need to travel internationally to do a language immersion program. Many colleges have summer language programs for high schoolers, and we also highly recommend Concordia Language Villages, which give students an opportunity to ‘live the language’ in a summer camp environment. Concordia Language Villages offers programs in 15 languages, including Arabic, Korean, Danish, Chinese, and German, and they even have four-week programs that count for high school credit. Alternatively, you can take a series of supplementary courses online or at a local community college.
If you intend on studying a foreign language in college, it’s important to show colleges your passion for language on your transcript and in your activities. By choosing activities that develop your language skills, you’ll set yourself up for success in the high school classroom, in college, and in life.
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