Vowels.me

Do You Need to Know a Foreign Language to Major in Linguistics?

Someone asked me this question recently: 

Hello! I’m interested in pursuing a degree in Linguistics in the near future. Would you have any advice on the usefulness of knowing a second or third language (and to what degree - how would four years of GCE ‘O’-level German stand)? Did your course focus on English or were you to choose a specific modern language to study (e.g. French)? Thank you!

It really all depends on your university, but I think most university linguistics programs require a degree of proficiency in at least one foreign language. Some require you to go to a certain level in one language, others require a couple languages. Some schools also have stipulations about the languages that you learn (e.g., the main language cannot be an Indo-European language). 

For my bachelor’s degree in linguistics (from BYU), the foreign language requirements were like this:

Complete 15 credit hours (to a 200-level or higher) of university-level course work (or the equivalent) in a single foreign language (American Sign Language also qualifies). Students intending to pursue graduate studies in linguistics are strongly encouraged to study a non-Indo-European language. Non-native speakers of English may elect to use English to fill this requirement. [Source]

I ended up taking 8 credits of Chinese (Mandarin) and then had something like 35+ credits of Russian and Ukrainian because I was able to take a proficiency test and get credit for what I already knew. 

For variety’s sake, here are the requirements of a couple more schools. Here’s Harvard’s:

Basic concentrators must demonstrate knowledge of one foreign language by the end of junior year. This can be done in the following ways: 

• by being a native speaker of the language;
• by obtaining at least a B grade in a full-year, second-year language course;
• by passing a Harvard College language placement exam; or
• in some cases, by passing a special departmental reading exam.

[Source]

And here’s UCLA’s (I know the page is old, but I couldn’t find the requirements on any newer page):

[Students must complete] the equivalent of the sixth term of one foreign language and the third term of a second foreign language. You are required to complete at least the equivalent of the third term in a language other than those in the Romance, Slavic, or Germanic families. [Source]

It’s worth noting that if you’re a native English speaker and want to study the English language, some schools have an English language degree. Mine did. This degree studies the English language itself, as opposed to an English degree, which studies English literature. A fair number of the English language major requirements overlapped with the linguistics major requirements.

If students at other universities want to send me their school’s requirements, I can collect them and put them in a followup post. Or if you have any further questions, ask away.