wick4000

Thank you all for your input and advise! After your responses I am wondering if HippoPirate isn't hitting the nail on the head with his observation on the difference between being bilingual and taking a few years of Spanish. If my commitment level isn't for native fluency, won't I be best served with a few resume-boosting courses in ASL? Sign language courses are recommended but not required by SJSU (no mention of Spanish). I probably won't have volunteer time to put in to look good for grad school acceptance, so I'm thinking I need to show my commitment to the focus of the field in as many other ways as possible, and ASL seems more tightly focused. Any thoughts on this?

Thank you skeener and yancey. I'm finding myself inclined towards Spanish due to the demographics in my area. Santa Cruz/San Jose is where I would like to work. If I choose to work in schools, Spanish would be vital. It also seems like the easier choice for memory maintenance, (use it or lose it) and I see the potential to use Spanish on the daily.

I am beginning my studies at the community college level with the goal of a masters in communication disorders and sciences. It is recommended (not required) that I take sign language courses, but I wonder if I will be hirable in California ten years down the road without being fluent in Spanish. But will I be a viable candidate without knowledge of ASL? I am not lazy, but learning a new language is difficult, and I'd rather not learn two. Any advise on this?