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Student Polyglots
There has always been a demand for linguistic specialties, and the process of sitting for entrance exams to language schools has become the stuff of legends. Preparing for matriculation was just as difficultsweating over textbooks in special language schools and concentrated study with tutors. But then a graduate in foreign languages could always earn enough to live on and then some. Dengi correspondent Nataliya Tyutyunenko found out what specialties and specializations you can acquire in schools of linguistics and specialized faculties and on what terms.
It has become easier to get a linguistic education today than it was 10–15 years ago. During this time, a large number of private schools of linguistics and faculties in nonspecialized institutes and universities have appeared in Russia. However, state educational institutions still give the most in-depth preparation and the most highly rated diplomas. Of course, there is stiff competition here as before (5–12 people for every place). And a student entering here must have correct pronunciation and the ability to understand a foreign text aurally, must be able to write correctly in a foreign language, and of course know a specific amount of grammar.
However, the schedule for submitting documents is drawn up such that students who did not pass the exams for the fulltime budget-funded section may have time to submit documents and be enrolled on a contractual basis ($3000–5000 per year on average; payments at most institutions are made per semester, but arrangements can be made to pay the amount in three to four stages if desired) or try to get into the evening or extramural sections.
The Leaders
There are no more leaders on the state linguistics education market than in any other area: three to five higher educational institutions at most. Moscow State University (MGU) and Moscow State Linguistics University [(MGLU; formerly Maurice Torez Foreign Language Institute] have traditionally been considered the leaders. These are educational brand names (especially in the field of linguistics) with the most fundamental approach, proven methods, a solid professorial and teaching staff, and probably the greatest choice of languagesaround 25, including Sorbian, Chinese, Japanese, Dutch, Lithuanian, Korean, Persian, and so on. Of course this is in addition to the traditional favorites of students, i.e., English, German, French, and Spanish.
Another advantage of the leading schools is cooperation with well-known foreign universities, which enables their students to intern abroad (of considerable importance for a linguist) and even obtain two diplomas. For example, a number of students from MGU's Faculty of Foreign Languages receive a dual education under a joint Russian–British bachelor's program of MGU and Coventry University in Great Britain. Students in the program spend a year in England in their third year (then they return to finish their studies at their alma mater). Discounts are provided for study in England for program participants (although life in England cannot be called cheap even with discounts).
Students at MGLU have the opportunity to go to Great Britain, Germany, Egypt, Portugal, France, Sweden, Finland, China, Korea, Turkey, and other countries for short-term study (three months or more).
The Russian People's Friendship University (RUDN) and the Russian State University for the Humanities (RGGU) have traditionally provided good linguistic preparation. It is notable that even though RUDN has a philological faculty, the Institute of Foreign Languages (IIYa RUDN) opened there in 1997, as demand for linguistic education considerably exceeded supply. Instruction is given on a contractual basis in a specific setting. The special feature of IIYa's program is reliance on the “family school” model and an individualized psychologically oriented approach to each group and each student. Nataliya Sokolova, director of IIYa RUDN: “The educational process has two components: teaching and upbringing. Faculties at higher schools place adequate emphasis on the first component, but unfortunately they regard the second as a drag on the process. But most students coming to these schools are only 17 years old.”
The Curriculum
Today all types and forms of intercultural relations are developing rapidly (the single worldwide web has a part in this). Correspondingly, the demand for specialists with knowledge of foreign languages is not decreasing; on the contrary, without language skills it is difficult to work in any field today. For this reason, the foreign language faculty at MGU is oriented towards preparing specialists in international relations capable of using their language skills in any social sphere, whether scientific, economic, or cultural, and not simply towards graduating linguistic theorists.
The list of courses offered by linguistics schools is not that extensive: translation and translation studies; regional studies; linguistics; and linguistics and intercultural communications. There is a greater choice of fields of specialization. In addition to specializing in the study of a particular language starting in first year, you can also broaden your scope by choosing a major in your senior years or at the master's level.
For example, bachelors of linguistics of IIYa RUDN can also obtain a master's degree in linguistics with specialization in the theory of communications and international public relations.
In accordance with state educational standards, linguists studying for a bachelor's degree spend 1800 hours in the study of general humanities and socioeconomic disciplines (Russian language style and standards of speech; ancient languages and cultures; and Russian history, cultural anthropology, political science, law, psychology, and sociology). However, linguists cannot get by without studying general mathematical and natural science disciplines: according to state standards, 400 hours are allotted for these subjects (mathematics and information science, concepts of modern science); general professional disciplines take up another 3648 hours (linguistics, theory and history of the languages being studied, a practical course in the first and second foreign languages, and so on).
The regional studies program provides comprehensive study of a specific region, i.e., its history, ecology, population, economy, politics, law, culture, literature, religion, international relations, traditions, way of life, and customs. The language of the region is studied at the same time (and a second language as an option).
Future criminal linguists at MGU study three languagesone of the main European languages, a Turkic language (elementary level) and a Finno-Ugrian language (elementary level). In addition to philological disciplines, they must also study basic mathematical topics and modern programming languages, as well as specialized disciplines (theory and practice of criminal linguistics, software and hardware tools of phonoscopic examinations, and so on). And of course, there is no dispensing with practical training under the supervision of specialists from the Ministry of the Interior, the prosecutor's office, etc.
At the master's level, linguists are more involved in research and more in-depth study of their chosen field, whether it is Russian language, applied cultural anthropology, or the languages of Asian, African, or native North American and Australian peoples, and write a master's thesis.
Trends
Linguistics is a traditional profession; however, along with traditional basic research activities, a whole system of applications and directions that are continually being updated and expanded has formed in contemporary linguistics.
Automatic text processing and transfer, the formulation and development of smart systems, criminal linguistics, linguistic methods in the sociopolitical sphere, and others have been added to traditional applied fields such as the study of native and foreign languages, compilation of various kinds of dictionaries, etc.
The trend towards integrating specialties will correspondingly affect the linguistic sphere. Svetlana Ter-Minasova, dean of the Faculty of Foreign Languages at MGU gives an example in her book Language and Intercultural Communications: “The Marlboro ads showing a cowboy on a horse do not work in Latin America, because he represents the underprivileged who can afford to buy only the cheapest and therefore low-quality cigarettes.” In other words, in this case, advertisers would need the advice of specialists in intercultural communications or regional studies. This explains the master's-level specialization in the theory of communications and international public relations offered by IIYa RUDN; the courses in linguistics and intercultural communications and regional studies at MGU and MGLU; and others.
An integrated discipline like criminal linguistics deserves separate mention in this context. MGU and MGLU train specialists for jobs in the expert centers and phonoscopic laboratories of the internal security, court, and prosecutors' office system and for carrying out applied work and theoretical research in the field of speech processes.
The “bachelor (four years of study)–specialist (five years)–master (six years)” system does not operate in all schools of linguistics today. For example, IIYa RUDN trains bachelor's and master's students in linguistics and specialists in the field of social pedagogics. And the training period in the evening division of MGU's philological faculty and study in the translation faculty of MGLU is only five years.
Thus, before taking the plunge (especially if it is a question of a little-known school or private higher educational institution), you should know what document and what degree you can obtain “on the way out”. If the school trains only bachelors in the given specialty, you will have to go to another school for a master's degree if you want to continue your studies. In theory, a number of leading Russian institutions accept bachelors for master's studies; but it may happen, for example, that there are not enough budget-funded places for you or you lack the knowledge to fill one of these places: before entry, you will have to undergo testing and an interview or take specialized exams. And in order to enter the master's program at IIYa RUDN, for example, you need “good” or “excellent” grades in the major subjects.
However, although a bachelor's degree is clearly not enough to find a job in a technical specialty, bachelors of linguistics are unlikely to be unemployed today. Nataliya Sokolova: “There is no language without thought, and no thought without language. Bilingual persons have differed from others at all times not only because they know another language besides their native language, but also because they have another outlook. This kind of specialist is needed in any sphere of activity.”
Linguists, e.g., translators, regional specialists, specialists in intercultural communications, etc., are needed in the media, in many government departments and private companies, and in higher educational institutions as foreign language teachers. Even ignoring the fact that students start looking for work in their third or fourth year of studies, recruiting companies say that graduate linguists with a knowledge of two foreign languages on the labor market can look forward to at least $500 a month.
Leading schools and faculties of linguistics >>
Nataliya Tyutyunenko
All the Article in Russian as of Apr. 26, 2004
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