Program Highlighted | Linguistics
Linguistics Introduction | Professor Sali Tagliamonte
Interview with | Colin Gorrie

Interview | Colin Gorrie

Colin Gorrie is a 3rd year Linguistics Specialist at University of Toronto. He took time out of his busy schedule to provide insight about the Linguistics program at UofT from a student perspective.

Innis: Would you introduce yourself, and your program of study?
Colin: I’m Colin Gorrie; I’m a third year Linguistics specialist. Linguistics is a lot fun, a lot of work, and fairly intense a) It’s a specialist and b) Linguistics is one of those things where if you’re studying Linguistics you’re pretty much studying linguists you get into current questions even as early as the 2nd year. It’s very challenging.

Innis: What attracted you to study Linguistics?
Colin: I always liked learning about languages; it was a natural fit.

Innis: What roles did advice/influence from peers, mentors, relatives and other play in your decision?
Colin: I didn’t know anyone else who was in Linguistics before I came here, so it was my own decision really.

Innis: What kind of languages did you learn?
Colin: I have studied French, Spanish, Latin, Russian, and Irish. 

Innis: Did you ever think of combining Linguistics with other programs? What & why?
Colin: Yes. I thought about Classics, specifically Latin. When I came here I realized that I liked Linguistics so much that I didn’t want to water it down with anything else. Besides, I could always take Latin on the side anytime.

Innis: What aspects of the program do you find fascinating or inspiring (curriculum, professors, practical experience, field courses)?
Colin: All of the above. Especially the curriculum, it’s very diverse. There are enough Linguistics courses that you can choose the area you want to get into, whether it’s syntax and more theoretical Linguistics—which is the case for me—or socioLinguistics and language variations. If you tend to favour one or the other, you can take courses exclusively to that.

Innis: How would you rate the facilities and opportunities offered by UofT to this program?
Colin: Highly. I have been involved in doing research through the ROP (Research Opportunity Program) in LIN299. We presented at the Canadian Linguistics Association annual conference during the summer in June. That was quite an experience.

Innis: Could you tell us more about the ROP?
Colin: The ROP is the Research Opportunity Program, offered to 2nd year students at UofT, pretty much every department in Arts & Science has them. You get to work one on one with professors. However each course can be designed differently. For instance, my colleague and I were working with a professor on a research that the professor had narrowed down from her previous research; it was very hands on for us. I have heard that in most of the ROPs – especially the sciences – there is a lot of lab work involved. I felt very lucky actually that I was allowed me to develop some of my own original research. We have written a paper and submitted to a journal and we are waiting on that now.

Innis: Of all the courses in this program you have taken so far, which one did you enjoy the most and why?
Colin: LIN299, I learned a lot, more in this course than any other. It gave me the opportunity to work on my own research, with close guidance and supervision because quite frankly when I started I had no idea what I was doing. Right now I’m enjoying LIN 306, which is Language Universals. We get to do a lot of our own research as well. It’s a tremendous learning experience with so much information; it’s great.  

Innis: What extracurricular activities have you been involved with on campus since coming to UofT?
Colin: I live in the Innis Residence, so I am very active there in the council. This is my third year; it’s been a lot of fun doing various things. I am senior house representative right now, coordinating social activities and such. We had an iron chef competition last month, which was a lot of fun. 

Innis: Are there any connections between the extracurricular activities and the programs that you are in?
Colin: In a strict sense they don’t. By contrast, not everything in life is Linguistics as much as some people would want it to be, and its good to do something other than pure school work all the time. It heightens the academics by contrast. That’s my theory.

Innis: Given your heavy course load and organizations that you are involved with, how did you manage to organize your time?
Colin: I like to stick to a schedule. It’s really good to budget your time, especially as you get on and on in the years. It’s not so important for 1st year students, because most of the 1st year courses don’t require a lot of work. I have to juggle coursework, and non-school stuff, so it really helps to have a plan and stick to it.

Innis: Any words of wisdom to give to someone interested in pursuing Linguistics?
Colin: Definitely go for it. Make sure you know a little bit about it before taking your first course. A lot of people are surprised, they think it’s mostly learning languages but it’s really learning about languages. I would also suggest learning what areas they’re interested in and plan for that. Planning is important in pursuing a specialist in Linguistics, or any specialist really. You want to make sure you like it before you get into it. 

Innis: Of all your achievements here at UofT, which one are you most proud of?
Colin: I would have to go back to the LIN 299 Research project. Presenting in a conference in front of actual linguists was really something. I was very happy; it went very well—surprisingly well. For those interested, there is a fair in the spring usually, where different programs provide information about their Research Opportunity Programs.

Innis: What types of careers are you interested in pursuing in the future?
Colin: I am interested in the theoretical research end of things. So I’m interested in academic careers primarily in Linguistics, like Linguistics professor or Linguistics researcher.

Innis: What steps are you taking to assist you in achieving these goals?
Colin: Reading about the areas in Linguistics that I’m interested in, and trying to narrow it down where I might want to go to graduate school, and possible areas in research that I could be doing in a few of years.

Innis: As a student in this field, you might have researched the job market already. What kinds of employment opportunities are there?
Colin: There’s not much research you can do in Linguistics with just the B.A. You have to get a Ph.D. as well, so now I’m focusing on researching about graduate school. For people who are not interested in the theoretical end of Linguistics, there is a lot of work that can be done in machine translation and computational Linguistics, especially in the private sector. There are a lot of linguists who go into law. It’s a really good grounding for a lot of things.

Innis: Are there any other things you would like to say to Innis students?
Colin: Especially to students interested in pursuing Linguistics, go for it. Don’t get discouraged by the fact that not a lot of people are linguists and not many have heard of Linguistics. If that’s what you want to do, just do it.

On behalf of Innis College, I would like to thank you for coming and giving us your time …

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