Is learning a foreign language really useless?

Hello, everyone, I'm Irene, and I'm very happy to share with you the "love and hate" between Xiaoyu and me.

Let me talk about myself first. I majored in Spanish at Sichuan International Studies University and advanced Spanish at the University of Valencia, Spain. I escaped from the suffering of foreign trade and am now preparing to change careers.

Many years ago, China Youth Daily used this sentence to describe the grand occasion of minority language employment in China at that time: "A roll of tongue is worth two thousand gold". This sentence didn't sound exaggerated at the time. Everyone's mouth moved, and dollars and euros went into their pockets. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, embassies abroad and foreign companies waved to the students. Take 20 10 graduates from outside Sichuan as an example, the employment rate is as high as 90%, and all the seniors and sisters have bright future.

Let's take another look. Now there are more than 30 thousand bald students in Douban University who regret learning small languages. Almost every post has such a comment: "Don't choose a small language!" "I really want to get rid of the pain" and "What major is better for minor language learning".

As long as you search for keywords related to small languages under the naked resignation Volkswagen Small Language Exchange Organization Group, a bunch of posts will pop up immediately: "The plight of small language graduate students"; Small talk: the end of the universe is Kao Gong; "What graduate students are suitable for reading small languages?" .

But is it really so useless to learn small languages? I don't think so.

Let's talk about my opportunities to learn small languages. I belong to the kind of person who has a strong sense of language since primary school. From the beginning of learning English, some right questions just can't say why. Asking depends on the sense of language, and combining your own understanding of language and sentences is the most appropriate answer. This sense of language also made my English the best subject in the college entrance examination. At the same time, because I didn't want to study mathematics at all, I naturally chose a small language. This is one of the opportunities.

It is better to choose Spanish. It was found to be the second largest language in the world. In those years before I went to college, it was also called the golden little language. This is a warm country, surrounded by sunshine, beaches, handsome guys and the Mediterranean. When I learned that, I went to the Spanish Embassy of China as an interpreter. This is simply a fairyland on earth! Looking back now, I really feel that I think too much. Ha ha.

In short, with my lofty ideals, I also formally entered the study of Spanish. The learning process is happy, but the reality of graduation is cruel. Four years later, the throne of Spanish golden small language has long since retreated to a few lines, and its glory has long since ceased to exist. Employment has become my biggest problem. I want to enter the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Sorry, your qualifications are not enough, and the school is not good enough. I'm sorry that we only have Latin America, Nicaragua, Honduras and Uruguay, and we prefer boys in the working environment.

After choosing a big circle, I began to regret my original decision, why I chose a small language! Is it too easy to find a job or too much money? But to be honest, for me at that time, there was no clear career plan. I just want to learn how to give up after four years. Changing careers is easier said than done.

So, with the unwillingness and yearning for living and studying abroad, I chose to go to Spain for further study. During my two years abroad, I learned a lot and my Spanish level improved a lot. It has become normal to communicate with my dried salted duck classmates which China restaurant is the most authentic, introduce the most representative cities and scenic spots in China to Spanish teachers, and go to bars to drink and dance with foreign friends. Slowly, there are more and more "highlight moments" for Spanish users, such as being lamented that as a China, your Spanish is really good; But at the same time, I also saw "broken and old, as if uncivilized" China in some stale European thoughts. What impressed me the most was that once the teacher accidentally mentioned dogs in class and said to our students in China, "I know, don't you people in China like dog meat very much? Isn't dog meat a must-have dish on your table? " . Under our strong refutation, the teacher also apologized to us and changed his mind.

Four years of domestic study and this period of studying abroad make me glad that I didn't make a wrong choice. As a medium, Spanish let me see a wider world, experience more diverse cultural life, broaden my understanding and pattern of society, and more importantly, as a "cultural messenger", let me gradually change the old ideas of Europeans and promote our motherland to be better and better.

But at the same time, it also made me realize that the best positioning of small languages is as a tool, which can't be a real job. This is also the main reason why everyone says that "small languages are Tiankeng majors". For example, if you are proficient in small languages and laws, you can be unique in the enterprise.

Therefore, the best way for people with small languages is to find their own fields of interest while learning the language, and make a good career plan, and combine small languages with this field to make your language a unique advantage. Maybe some people will feel confused and anxious in this process, and can't find the direction, but you don't need to worry. No one's road is smooth sailing. Only by going forward bravely will we reap more splendid scenery and bear more beautiful fruits.

I hope everyone can use the door of small languages to open another window with a brighter future.

Finally, I want to borrow a sentence from my graduate tutor for everyone and myself: don't be defeated by anxiety and confusion, because this is the normal state of life.