How to Become a Linguist

You've probably heard the song "One-Eyed, One-Horn, Flyin' Purple People Eater," but did you ever really stop to think about it? How do the words manage to conjure up an image in your mind of a man-eating, purple creature flying through the air with the greatest of ease? Only a linguist can tell you.

Difficulty:

Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Oxford English Dictionary
• Career Books
• Career Counseling
• Computers

1. Choose this profession if you have always been interested in the way words work. Take plenty of classes in English, grammar, foreign languages and even mathematics to succeed in a linguistics program.

2. Apply for opportunities to study abroad to gain experience with other languages and cultures and to give yourself a head start in any college linguistics program.

3. Participate in foreign language clubs your high school or college may offer to get a basic idea of how other languages are formed and how they communicate ideas, as well as how they are used socially.

4. Determine if you are interested in studying languages or linguistics, perhaps with an introductory course. The Occupational Outlook Handbook defines linguistics as "the study of the analytical, descriptive and historical bases of language"; it is as much the study of why we say the things we do as how we say them.

5. Seek out the facet of linguistics that interests you most. Linguists study everything from artificial intelligence to the roles language plays in social and cultural situations.

6. Be prepared to get technical. Courses in a typical linguistics program will include phonetics, morphology, syntax, semantics and historical linguistics, and they will be complemented by courses from many other disciplines, including math, science, philosophy, psychology and the humanities.

7. Take advantage of every opportunity to learn about other cultures and the way they use language. If your next-door neighbor happens to be Japanese, look on that as not only an opportunity for friendship, but also for learning.

8. Research various programs. Some are more technical, focusing on the scientific study of language, while others are more socially oriented, focusing on the reasons behind and effects of language as they relate to an entire culture.

9. Decide what you want to do with your linguistics degree. Linguists can also be teachers, lawyers, speech therapists, anthropologists and even journalists.

Tips & Warnings

• Combine your linguistics degree with a creative minor to create a niche for yourself. For example, a linguistics major with a computer science minor may get you that job you want in an up-and-coming robotics firm; combined with an anthropology minor, it may help you nab a key museum research position.

• Get on the Internet and find out all you can. Linguistics is a popular subject on the Web.

• Don't assume you have to know nine languages to be a linguist. Some linguists specialize in the study of one language and do just fine.