Changing Major from Spanish to German

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Hello, right now I am a Spanish major but I am going to change it to German. I am African-American so you know how some people are looking at me. My brother thinks it's stupid, my mom doesn't even want me doing Spanish she wants me doing computers. My therapist who has studied aspergers thinks Spanish is a good idea but I haven't told him about German. he says that aspies need to do things they are passionate about.

Here are the reasons I'm changing it:
-I like the German language better
-I like German culture better
-I feel closer to German and like it's more aspie-like
-It's less social than Spanish (salsa, dancing)
-Spanish and Latina women tend to be very stuck up from my experiences, but I met a few German girls and they were nice. And the German girls always reply and approve my friend request while the Latinas tend to be flaky.
-I would like to live in Germany it seems like a cool place and I like changing seasons and snow
-I would like to become a college professor and teach German if not a translator.

so what do you guys think?

Could you maybe major in German and minor in Spanish? Many U.S. jobs will require Spanish within the next 20 years due to the exploding Spanish speaking population. On the other hand, if you are fluent in German, you will have many opportunities in Germany and you say you really like their culture. If you are fluent in both, you will have the choice of living in either country. Also if you are fluent in three language, you can get a job with the U.N. which is pretty recession proof.

I admire your gift with languages. I studied Spanish for three years and all I remember is "Coma estas?" and "Hola".

Excellent choice! OK, I am a bit biased though. If I may, I might recommend that you take a look at the Deutsche Welle website and check out the Learning German area. They have a lot of very good on-line courses. I'm working my way through them now as a refresher. I took three years of German in high school and two years in college, as well as living there for 18 months courtesy of the US Army. That was a l-o-n-g time ago and I have forgotten a lot since than, that's why I am now using the DW classes. In college I was an engineering student and there was a language requirement of either German, or Russian, for obvious reasons.

Good recommendation.

I also have a strong affinity for German against Spanish. I enjoyed learning Spanish in high school, but afterwards I didn't feel motivated to continue pursuing it. I started with German a few years after high school, in part because of the historical association of German with science, in part because I had learned to like Viennese Operetta and I wanted to understand the words.

As things progressed, I not only taught myself German, but by listening to Deutsche Welle and watching Schweizer Fernsehen, I've gained an understanding of the European perspective on events.

Ich wünsche Ihnen Spaß und viel Glück!
Have fun, and good luck!

Last edited by JohnOldman on 13 Aug 2011, 4:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.

When I wanted to change my major, I had very little support. I didn't care, and went for it anyway. I am a firm believer that people should do what they like more and they will be happier with it in the end! Good luck!

Spanish sounds nicer to me. And more speak Spanish than german worldwide.

It is true that Spanish might be a bit more practical for where you live, but if you like German more, I would say go for it. What kind of job do you want to have when you are done? My school offers many languages that aren't as practical in Canada as, say, French would be...but there are still hundreds or even thousands of students who study them. (Next year, I am taking Hebrew! Obviously, that is not the most practical language, but it sure will be fun!)

I would like to be a translator or college professor. I am going to go for it because I really like it. I am going to have to study abroad in Germany if I want to become fluent I hope I make some friends to go with, but if not I'm just going to go by myself. My mom is the first college graduate in our family and my brothers and I are in college, there are no males that have a college degree in my family and since my mom knows I do the best I think she is trying to put pressure on me to do something that makes a lot of money so other people can think I'm a smart black man with a lot of money, but i could care less about that stuff. I am going to do what I want to do.

I think that is a wise decision!



This is why I do not care so much about practicality. For the job you want, it should be fine anyway, but even so, I have had people tell me that I should not study what I am studying because of the money issue. I would rather make less and LOVE what I do, then make lots and HATE what I do. It is YOUR life, so I would say, do what YOU want because you are the one who has to live with your choices. Everyone is always so concerned about the money. Money doesn't mean much to me, and it does not buy happiness.