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This story appeared in the Fall 2019 Letters & Science magazine.

When James Ungaretti enrolled in his first-year courses, he loaded up on requirements for a computer sciences major. But having taken four years of Italian at his Oak Park, Illinois, high school, he thought, why not add an Italian class, too

James Ungaretti is pursuing a double major in computer sciences and Italian.

“I was really surprised by what I got out of it,” says Ungaretti. “Before I began my studies at UW-Madison, I imagined myself cranking out gen eds and taking as many CS classes as possible. I wanted to focus 100 percent on CS. Instead, Italian—and L&S in general—have planted a deep interest in people, art and communication.”

Now a junior, Ungaretti is pursuing a double major in computer sciences and Italian. And by doing so, he joins a large cohort of UW-Madison students finding enhanced learning and widened opportunities by studying a language.

Strategic Skills

The College of Letters & Science is a powerhouse when it comes to languages. Students may choose from more than 40 different modern languages as well as numerous classical and ancient languages, and an additional 20-plus languages are offered in the summer.

UW-Madison graduates more students with majors in languages other than English than any other American university. Earlier this year, when the Chronicle of Higher Education investigated which colleges confer the most bachelor’s degrees in languages, literatures and linguistics, it ranked UW-Madison as number two overall. The university also came in first in Spanish degrees, second in French and third in both Chinese and Russian.

This year, more than 2,600 students are studying a language. And many, like Ungaretti, are combining it with a separate course of study.

“Languages are the most common second major,” says Dianna Murphy, director of the Language Institute, associate director of the Russian Language Flagship Program and executive director of the Korean Language Flagship Program. “Students want opportunities for language study and cultural learning.”

Sometimes it’s to continue a language they picked up in middle or high school. But often it’s a strategic move with a specific career path in mind.

Students who participate in the Russian and Korean Flagship Programs know they will graduate with professional competency in their chosen language — and that there is demand for those skills. The programs, funded by the U.S. Department of Defense, support universities in preparing graduates with linguistic and cultural expertise deemed crucial for U.S. security.

Arabic and Mandarin are also what the government considers “critical-needs languages,” according to Marie Koko, a career and internship specialist at SuccessWorks, the L&S career center.

But bilingual skills are helpful — or even essential — to jobs outside the public sector, Koko says. Budding international business executives will benefit from knowing more than just English, and scientists, too, have an advantage if they can converse where they’ll be conducting field work.

“People who study science don’t always think about it that way,” she says. “But you need to be able to speak the local language.”

Laura Bunn in Rio de Janeiro at Escadaria Selaron.

A World of Opportunity

Students’ reasons for studying a language are as varied as how they end up putting their skills to use. But one thing is certain — if you pursue a language, the world opens up to you in new ways. From studying, interning or working abroad to joining conversation groups or language-immersion residences in Madison, opportunities abound for students to enhance their language study outside of the classroom.

When Laura Bunn was an eight-year-old writing to a pen pal in El Salvador, she couldn’t have predicted she’d one day study Spanish, international studies, journalism and Portuguese, or anticipated where these interests would take her.

After visiting Rio de Janeiro as a sophomore, Bunn returned to Brazil to intern with a non-governmental organization. “I conducted interviews entirely in Portuguese, transcribed them in English and wrote in-depth profile stories about community-based sustainability,” she says. “Interviews with local community organizers taught me grassroots information about public policy issues in Rio de Janeiro.”

The experience was foundational for Bunn’s next steps: interning at the U.S. Embassy in Lisbon, Portugal, continuing an accelerated master’s program at the La Follette School for Public Affairs and eventually starting a career in public service related to Latin America.

Competitive Advantages

While language fluency is appealing to many employers, companies also want graduates with a nuanced understanding of cultures.

As co-director of the Wisconsin Language Roadmap Initiative, which is strengthening language education to improve Wisconsin’s economic competitiveness, Murphy knows the pressure companies face to compete internationally and the desire they have for employees with multilingual skills and cultural competencies.

“What we’re hearing from businesses around the state is they need employees who can work on diverse teams and can successfully tap into markets at home and abroad,” Murphy says.

Jake Meyers has certainly found a competitive advantage in studying both Chinese and mechanical engineering. The recent graduate began a job this summer working as a product engineer for Foxconn in Shenzhen.

“Although the basis of the job is an engineering position, the fact that I can speak Chinese, have been to China several times before and have a very strong interest in Chinese language and culture gave me an enormous advantage,” he says.

Ungaretti is already prepared for how he’s going to leverage his Italian major. Language study has instilled in him a preference for working with people with diverse backgrounds and perspectives.

“Interviewers can ask me about my Italian classes and I can talk about my communication skills,” he says. “That’s something that sets me apart.”


Language Links

Where can language study take you? Anywhere, as these graduates attest.

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