Looking on the Bright Side

According to an article in Friday’s Chronicle, the job market for English and foreign-language Ph.D.’s isn’t as bleak as it seemed back in December 2009. Apparently, it’s only mostly bleak (to borrow from Monty Python — or is it from The Princess Bride?). The good … er … less-bad news is that the Modern Language Association now estimates that the number of job openings in English will dive by only 27.5 percent from last year, as opposed to the 37-percent free fall that was previously estimated for 2009-10. The number of job openings in foreign languages is similarly now expected to decline by only 26.7 percent. Of course, this year’s job market may still wind up being the worst in at least 35 years — and if “this year’s projections hold true, there will be a two-year decline of 45.2 percent in English jobs and 46.4 percent in foreign-language jobs,” a Chronicle reporter notes — but, to quote a song from Python’s Life of Brian, one should “always look on the bright side of life.”