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Post by Triassic on Jan 8, 2006 8:37:36 GMT -5
I'd advise someone like Chan; young and good with languages to not even bother with college at this point. Instead, go learn Arabic, Japanese, Chinese, Spanish, German and Russian as well as possible. A translator with those language skills would be so marketable that he/she could probably write their own ticket.
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Post by Chan on Jan 8, 2006 13:04:27 GMT -5
Ha, I'm not sure my dad would be very happy to hear that, Triassic. I have, however, thought the very same thing myself. I would be satisfied with my career as a linguist/tattoo artist. It seems like everything I want to do doesn't involve a college education. (Everyone just says it's good to fall back on) The next spoken language I'd like to pick up would be Romanian, but alas, like Russian, not many people need a Romanian translator/interpretor nowadays. I'd probably go with Chinese or Japanese. The only reason why I didn't pick those up in the first place was because it can take years and years to learn the written symbols. I learned the Cyrillic alphabet in a day, that's how I knew Russian was for me.
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Post by mrjefffurz on Jan 8, 2006 14:01:38 GMT -5
"jeff, why did u get a technical degree instead of a bachelor's?",,,cuz jeff is aware he would never get thru college algebra or meet the foreign langauge requirements,,,one of the keys to success imho is knowing your strengths & weaknesses and using the strengths to your best advantage
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Post by Lee on Jan 8, 2006 15:41:44 GMT -5
Wow, Chan... that's awesome that you're so good with languages... I always wished I had that ability. I'm really good at math and analytic stuff, but I don't know how much it's helped me in life (other than preventing HS/college math from becoming a form of torture).
I would think that a highly paid translator probably would need a college degree though. But then again, what do I know?
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Post by vivi on Jan 8, 2006 16:42:57 GMT -5
While I always excelled at English (I grew up in Mexico), I also always flunked Math and Physics... I'm good at languages too.
Right now I'm tackling Braille, but after that, I think I might learn French or German. I always wanted to learn another language.
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Post by E on Jan 8, 2006 22:09:00 GMT -5
"jeff, why did u get a technical degree instead of a bachelor's?",,,cuz jeff is aware he would never get thru college algebra or meet the foreign langauge requirements,,,one of the keys to success imho is knowing your strengths & weaknesses and using the strengths to your best advantage I'm a high-school drop-out. School is overrated.
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Post by Triassic on Jan 8, 2006 23:11:31 GMT -5
School/College is somewhat overrated, you're right. I maintain that you could get the equivalent of a liberal arts education if you had access to a good coffeehouse and a good bookstore.
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Post by V on Jan 9, 2006 6:26:55 GMT -5
I loved school. I loved my degree. I loved having a place where I could just explore different subjects and the structure that kept me disciplined enough to actually study. Not a huge language person, though I don't think it's an either/or thing. Although I always excelled in math and science, I wasn't too shabby on the verbal side of things.
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Post by carpenter on Jan 9, 2006 8:47:48 GMT -5
Oh ... it does not have to work that way. Math and Science vs the Liberal Arts is not a rigid dichotomy. One does not have to choose one over the other as a matter of course. Here, Engineering pays the bills. Yet other books fill the night stand to overflowing. A mind can be exercised in many directions. And it should be granted the options to expand. The payoff comes much later.
Not going to college to simply earn the degree is adopting a low road strategy for life. One never knows where it will enable one to overcome life's unpredictable obstacles. That diploma is in some ways and end in itself. Chances are it will pay for itself many times over in the uncharted terrain of the distant future. Consider it as a ticket to an unknown buffet. One simply has to adopt the will to believe that it is the right thing to do when offered the opportunity to enrich ones self comes along.
There is nothing wrong with working with one's hands for weekly wages. Neither is there anything amiss with being in a position to not have to live week to week for that paycheck. A college degree can provide one with that sort of choice.
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Post by wheelie37 on Jan 11, 2006 11:12:35 GMT -5
some people can get a degrees and still not get a job if they are disabled
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Post by mrjefffurz on Jan 11, 2006 14:38:55 GMT -5
u hit the nail right on the head, wheelie...i graduated magna and #1 in my division yet couldnt even get an interview if the company knew i was dis,,,if it was a blind resume situation i was called in but never given a serious job offer until one of my classmates found my resume at the bottom of the stack (he had already gone thru all the other candidates) and called me in,,,and got the job,,,,but im much happier now being an independent contractor than i was working in an architectural office...
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Post by wheelie37 on Jan 12, 2006 8:00:59 GMT -5
That is the main thing, being happy in the job that you do
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Post by wheelie37 on Jan 20, 2006 11:33:05 GMT -5
unfortunately in this sad world people need money to survive
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