There is a topic on Zhihu, is the English major completely cold?
I didn't reply at the bottom, because I didn't have much energy to toss on Zhihu, but I thought that this topic is actually very representative, and some students are also very concerned, so I want to talk about my views here, I hope to be as dialectical and objective as possible, if there is any shortcoming, please forgive me for my limited ability. My personal answer is that English is cold, but it's not so completely cold.
First of all, let me talk about why English majors are cold.
First, the job market doesn't need that many British post-secondary students. However, there are more than 100,000 British college students graduating every year, which is the largest number of liberal arts majors. A large number of English students can't find jobs, so what's the point of opening so many English majors? Is it to make money for the university admissions department and increase the school's income?
Second, the training mechanism of English majors is chaotic. Even the English majors of 985 colleges and universities and Beijing Foreign University are mainly from good students, and the curriculum is not more advanced than other schools.
Thirdly, many English students do not know that they can only rely on themselves to learn English, and do not pay enough attention to their own English, and even many English students have learned dumb English for several years, and their English speaking and writing level may be embarrassed by themselves, and it is difficult to be qualified for English work.
Fourth, the impact of artificial intelligence and the economic downturn have led to a further reduction in the demand for British students, and low-end translations are expected to be eliminated. In addition, the demand for English teachers has decreased in the past two years, and the double reduction has undoubtedly made the situation worse for English majors.
Let's talk about why English majors haven't cooled down completely. First, despite the large number of British college students, there is also a certain proportion of excellent English college students, and some English college students can achieve one of the following when they graduate from the bachelor's degree: IELTS 8 points, 8 excellent students, two strokes, and two mouths. A little bit of English college students even pass a bite, and the job market still welcomes these top foreign language talents.
Second, although some people think that a major needs to learn the top 5 to get a good job, then the major itself is a failure. But in fact, this is not the case, in addition to the 985 and 211 colleges and universities of the British college students, some of the three or even the junior college students have found their dream jobs, and the English ability itself has no absolute relationship with the ability to monetize.
Third, "English + other skills" has become the consensus of many British college students. With the increasing difficulty of employment for English majors, many British college students have changed careers, forcing themselves to combine with the development of new industries, and British college students still have a certain way out, as long as you are willing to open your mind and horizons. If you want to learn, there is always a way out, and if you don't want to learn, you will kill yourself.
Fourth, if everyone says that English majors are cool, in fact, liberal arts majors are very cool in China. Other liberal arts majors such as Marxism, business administration, and non-law may be cooler. Overcrowded, there is no one who is not cool in the major with small demand, even if you study other liberal arts majors, it is a siege, and now the computer is not easy to employ, if you don't believe it, you can ask the classmates around you.
But no matter whether you think the English major is cool or not, you can't give up on yourself, and the four years of learning English are just a small part of your life, and it will not determine your life. We must abandon the thinking of students, there is no limit to life!