Has anyone majored in East Asian studies or a language?

[silverkris]

Originally Posted by Yenisei

This is an excellent point- majoring in Chinese or Japanese is exponentially more useful when combined with a technical/scientific subject or a business discipline, but with work experience, and maybe an MBA, it might not even matter that you only majored in East Asian languages at the undergrad level.

Yes. That's what I did - got a MA in Asian Studies with a combo in International Economics. My timing was right as I completed this just as China took off and the other Asian economies were going like gangbusters. Later got an MBA.

[Queldorei]

Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth

Right; the other thing you could do if you got an MA in Asian area studies is apply for jobs with the State Department.

Or, OP, with a BA, you could take education classes for a teaching certificate, and get a job teaching Chinese or Japanese in public or private schools. Chinese is much more common in schools than Japanese, btw.

Teaching actually was my original plan, but for teaching English as a second language. But, after taking a class for it, I realized that I really, really, really hate teaching. I chose Japanese because it was simply the ONLY language in any kind of program in my area, a minor program. But, out of all of the things I studied in my few years in school, it's the only thing that remotely interested me, other than my other Asia-related classes. But, the credits I have don't match up to any major, just the minor, the TESOL certification I almost got, and general education.