Differences Between Studying Languages and Linguistics

by Ivana Recmanova

For many people, there is little difference between studying languages and linguistics. After all, the Latin word lingua, from which the word linguistics is derived, means language, right?

Well, they aren’t that similar actually. In fact, these disciplines are very different and we will explain how in what follows.

First of all, hardly anyone says they have a degree in languages. They will more likely tell you they have a degree in English, French, Japanese, etc., or any combination thereof. When you study a language at university, you study its literature, film, people’s history, and (gasp!) linguistics. You may also do some translation courses, depending on whether you study it as your first language or not. By the end of your studies, you will become an expert in that language and its associated culture(s).

On the other hand, when you study linguistics, you study language structures in general. This means that you will learn about practically all languages although you won’t be required to speak any of them specifically. You will focus on their morphology (the structure of words), syntax (the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), phonetics (sounds), phonology (how sounds are put together to create meaning), history, socio-linguistics (attitudes to languages, multilingualism, dialects) and so forth.

Some people may study more specific linguistic degrees, for example, English linguistics. This follows the same structure as a general linguistics course, but it focuses on English only. In such courses, you probably won’t learn much about Shakespeare, but you will learn about the history of the English language, its dialects and structures.

Which degree is, therefore, more useful? That entirely depends on your interests. Language degrees are more suited to those who are interested in specific languages as well as their cultures. Linguistics is a degree that is more scientific in its content and requires a so-called Renaissance approach because it entails disciplines allied to various sciences, such as sociology, psychology, computer sciences, mathematics, etc.

Some people like both subjects and decide to study both. This can be beneficial because it gives them knowledge of a specific language as well as knowledge of language structures in general. This doesn’t mean their workload is doubled though; they spend perhaps 50% of their time on the study of a language and the remaining 50% on the study of linguistics. Others decide to study one discipline for their Bachelor’s degree and the other for their Master’s degree, so that they fully concentrate on one discipline at a time.

In conclusion, although both subjects deal with languages, their contents are very different. Nonetheless, they complement each other quite nicely.

If you decide to improve your English with Engramo, the online course designed by linguists specialising in the English language, you’ll broaden and deepen your knowledge of the language and maybe even pick up bits of linguistics along the way. See for yourself!