Quality of teaching vs. What interests you?

[Jon_Dahl]

I'm a freshman and I'm considering (not very seriously) changing my major.

We have this funny thing that you can't apply to the university to study Portuguese as your major, but you have to apply for something else first and then change your major to Portuguese. I got in to study English, which didn't interest me that much, and my goal was to switch to Portuguese ASAP, meaning after the first year.

Now I've discovered that the Portuguese teaching isn't all that mind-blowing, mainly due to the fact the teachers have very narrow understanding of their field (but they are nevertheless specialists in their narrow fields) and there aren't that many courses to choose from. Furthermore, the other Portuguese students seem to be more into Spanish or French and don't really seem to share my enthusiasm. The English department, on the other hand, is thriving and have teachers that seem to know everything about all the varities of English and historical forms thereof, and there's a huge amount of interesting courses. I've really enjoyed myself so far studying English, despite a few hick-ups.

I'd like to become an English and Portuguese teacher, but I have this problem of choosing my major. Should I continue with English, since I've enjoyed it so far, even though it has never been my goal, or should I stay focused on my actual goal and study Portuguese, even though the conditions seem meegre? I'm torn... In the end, the result will be the same.

[Nemirthel]

You should study whatever can get you the job you want and are interested in. It sounds like the first part will work with either major, so you'll need to decide which is more interesting to you. You shouldn't worry about what degree you started off wanting, very few people know what they want to do until they've actually started studying it. You should also make sure you're deciding based on the subject and not the department, as you will only be part of the department for a few years. If you can't decide which subject is more interesting, take classes in both if you can. That should tell you very quickly what you'd rather study (it worked for me, albeit with engineering and chemistry rather than English and Portuguese). The downside is that it may take an extra semester to graduate if you do that, but that will also happen if you change majors later. Of course depending on your financial situation it may be best to graduate as quickly as possible. In that case I would recommend sticking to Portuguese (assuming your first language is English) as it's more important to have credentials in the language that's less common where you want to teach.

[Temotei]

Is it possible to double major at your school? If so, consider doing that if you're serious about both.

[Nemirthel]

Is it possible to double major at your school? If so, consider doing that if you're serious about both.

In addition to what I said earlier, I second this. Especially since both majors seem applicable to what you want to do.

[Jon_Dahl]

I've been asking around a lot and now it's official: I can only have one major.

[goto124]

Goodness! This is a major issue!

I hate myself.

[Pyromancer999]

Can you not minor in something, then? Maybe you could major in English and minor in Portuguese, or vice versa. Also, provided your university isn't strict about electives or locking class prerequisites so that only people with a certain major can take them, you can always try to take courses in an area beyond your minor or in addition to your major, if minoring in something is not allowed.

[Eldariel]

Go with the faculty where the teaching interests you, since that's what you'll inevitably be actually receiving for your troubles. If the Portuguese teaching isn't up to the standards you'd like, I'd just minor it (provided a minor is sufficient for formal teacher competence there) and major in something where the teaching does enthrall you. You could also (probably) do your Thesis in Portuguese but major in something else up until then - or do a cross-scientific thesis.

I was in a rather similar situation: I was interested in English, French, German, Swedish, Japanese, Latin and a number of other languages but I never found the ring I wanted in maining any of them. I found my answer in General Linguistics and Cognitive Sciences, and I haven't regretted it since. Indeed, it seems like my life has taken a course of mine for the first time in my life in spite of me being over 30 by the time I graduate. Age is just a number after all, and my life is mine to spend as I wish. Though of course, studying in Finland is comparatively dirt cheap so this is much easier than in many countries.