I need advice please!

Hello everybody!

I need some real advises from experts please. I'm 26yrs old. Came to US from Europe not too long ago. My English in not fluent. Got some associates degree which has nothing to do with IT and I suck at math by the way but binary math won't be a problem for me to learn.
My question is which BA or BS degree is the closest to CCIE (there are around 4 of them as far as I know)? And is it very hard to get a BS degree or CCIE cert for a person who isn't fluent in English? Will I have to attend some special IT college before university to get a BS?
My computer knowledge is very good but excluding networking. I'm thinking to start from A+, Security+, Network+ and what's next I have no idea, don't know how far I'll be able to go.

Thankful in advance!

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mikearama

My degree is not in the computer field, but if I could do it over again, I'd get a degree in something like this:

BSc (Hons) Computer and Network Technology | Undergraduate Study | Manchester Metropolitan University

In the States / Canada, depending on the institution, the a course of study in the same core curriculum may result in any of the following degrees:
Bachelor of Computer Science
Bachelor of Computing in Computer Science
Bachelor of Computer Security in Computer Science
Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Computer Science
Bachelor of Engineering (BEng) in Computer Science
Bachelor of Mathematics in Computer Science
Bachelor of Science (BSc or BS) in Computer Science
Bachelor of Science (BSc or BS) in Computing
Bachelor of Science (BSc or BS) in Computer Science and Technology
Bachelor of Applied Information Sciences (BAISc)

Near where I live is a University called UOIT (Univ of Ontario Institute of Technology) that offers two interesting network degrees:
BIT - Bach of Info Tech, with a speciality in "Networking and Information Security"
Master of Information Technology Security (MITS)

Look for something along those lines and you'll do great.

As for the lack of english... I wish you well, bro. If there was a degree that do-able without being fluent, it may very well be an IT degree, but personally, I think you're in for a boatload of challenges. If you cannot follow a lecture well, or read well... damn, that's gonna put you behind right from the start. If there's one uniform condition of getting into IT, it's that you will be reading, and reading, and reading some more... and then there's the reading! Reading english is tough enough... throw in the technical jargon, and that's another language in and of itself. Having said all that, your english seems quite decent... if you wrote your comment without resorting to a dictionary, I think you may be fine already.

Your path is good... I did the same. I started with my A+, N+ and Sec+, then an MCSE, and then into the CCNP. Doing something like that is a great foundation.

Hey, where are ya from in the EU? How about scoring some books in your native tongue while you work on improving your english?

Mike

nel

I completed a similar path to what you want to do - i have a Bsc Hons and a masters degree in Network Engineering. Its been good and they have been a challenge to complete. I also hope to achieve the CCIE someday. My main concern regarding my path is that i feel its too technical! i would also consider some non-IT subjects too. Many have got a degree which is non-IT related and then have completed technical certifications to make up for that.

Its something to think about imo.

Regarding the language, well your going to have to learn english very fast otherwise reading technical books, lectures etc will become a hard task...and thats before you get to understanding the material. English is a great language to know/have so this will also make you stronger and more attractive to employers. Damn, in some fields, its the only language used!

Your only 26 and have plenty of time to achieve your goals.

Elias38

Thank you for your responses! I didn’t know that there are so many Bachelor degrees in computer industry. I found some minor information about BS in computer networking is it popular at all? By the way I have no problem reading and listening in English but not good at explaining something and I refer to dictionary for complex words and sentences only. Originally I’m from Latvia but my native tongue is Russian, last 7 years I lived in Ireland, before I came to US I was thinking of moving to London. I started to think that when u r 26 is too late for that kind of stuff. I wish I could start what I’ve planned now when I was 16 at least.
“How about scoring some books in your native tongue while you work on improving your English?”
The problem is that there are no such books in my language which is Russian because Cisco stuff is not very popular in East Europe and I’d rather sit with a dictionary and translate every single word of original Cisco books than already translated ones + I’ll improve my English this way. I think for me the best way is to start A+, Sec+ etc. and maybe try to get into some University for BS later, depending on how my achieving of certificates will go. Have nothing to lose but time and it's better than sit on the couch and do nothing anyways...

Turgon

Elias38 wrote: »

Hello everybody!

I need some real advises from experts please. I'm 26yrs old. Came to US from Europe not too long ago. My English in not fluent. Got some associates degree which has nothing to do with IT and I suck at math by the way but binary math won't be a problem for me to learn.
My question is which BA or BS degree is the closest to CCIE (there are around 4 of them as far as I know)? And is it very hard to get a BS degree or CCIE cert for a person who isn't fluent in English? Will I have to attend some special IT college before university to get a BS?
My computer knowledge is very good but excluding networking. I'm thinking to start from A+, Security+, Network+ and what's next I have no idea, don't know how far I'll be able to go.

Thankful in advance!

A large proportion of the World's CCIEs do not use English as their first language. Im not sure this question is approrpriate for the CCIE board. No degree is closest to CCIE. There are millions of graduates in the world and less than 25000 active CCIEs.

Turgon

Elias38 wrote: »

Thank you for your responses! I didn’t know that there are so many Bachelor degrees in computer industry. I found some minor information about BS in computer networking is it popular at all? By the way I have no problem reading and listening in English but not good at explaining something and I refer to dictionary for complex words and sentences only. Originally I’m from Latvia but my native tongue is Russian, last 7 years I lived in Ireland, before I came to US I was thinking of moving to London. I started to think that when u r 26 is too late for that kind of stuff. I wish I could start what I’ve planned now when I was 16 at least.
“How about scoring some books in your native tongue while you work on improving your English?”
The problem is that there are no such books in my language which is Russian because Cisco stuff is not very popular in East Europe and I’d rather sit with a dictionary and translate every single word of original Cisco books than already translated ones + I’ll improve my English this way. I think for me the best way is to start A+, Sec+ etc. and maybe try to get into some University for BS later, depending on how my achieving of certificates will go. Have nothing to lose but time and it's better than sit on the couch and do nothing anyways...

Some of the best CCIE's in the world are Russian. Russia produces brilliant minds. Plenty of material has been translated into Russian so look around on the web. I bought my brother in law a CCNA Cisco Press book translated into Russian. The stuff exists. China has close to the same number of CCIEs as the US now and I cant ever remember a regular Chinese poster on groupstudy and those folks dont use English as a first language. I will defer on the cheating controversy in China though, except to say..it goes on.

Elias38

That's is inspiring maybe I've a brilliant mind as well!

I'll definitely take a better look for those books, any related material will help, thanks!!
P.S. I'm curious about one thing, will you have to redo the test/exam for A+, Sec+, Network+, CCNA, CCIE does the certificates expire or you'll just have to do some basic extra test or something? It would be a nightmare to redo the whole thing once again I assume!

Plazma

Elias38 wrote: »

That's is inspiring maybe I've a brilliant mind as well! I'll definitely take a better look for those books, any related material will help, thanks!!
P.S. I'm curious about one thing, will you have to redo the test/exam for A+, Sec+, Network+, CCNA, CCIE does the certificates expire or you'll just have to do some basic extra test or something? It would be a nightmare to redo the whole thing once again I assume!

I believe every 3 years you have to pass the CCIE written again to re-certify, but it might technically be every 2

Elias38

Plazma wrote: »

I believe every 3 years you have to pass the CCIE written again to re-certify, but it might technically be every 2

And what about A+, Network+?
Yeah, I found some info, u'll have to do it every 3 years since 01 Jan 2011.