Why study languages, everyone speaks English, right?
Wrong! Over 80 per cent of the worlds population does not speak a word of English and with around 6, 912 living languages spoken throughout the world it is never been a better time to learn a new language.
As well as being fun and interesting, studying a foreign language will give you excellent and varied career opportunities as well as life-long skills. Language skills are in scarce supply and can be used in almost any job. Studying a language makes you an excellent communicator, which is an important quality that employers look for. Languages have been taught at universities for many years and nowadays you can choose from a wide variety of languages from those that you may be familiar with such as French, German, Spanish or Italian, to languages that you may never have come across such as Bengali, Mandarin Chinese, Malay, Japanese, Korean or Vietnamese. Even though you may not need to have studied these languages before, you will need to show that you have an active interest in the country and culture.
Learning a language is not just about textbooks and the classroom; as part of your language course you will be given the opportunity to spend a year in a country where your chosen language is spoken. During this time you may choose to attend a university or take up a work placement and earn some money. The year abroad is a really attractive part of studying a foreign language and will give you the opportunity to learn a great deal about the culture and values of the country. Do not underestimate the value of a language degree. Language graduates are real assets to modern businesses as learning a language involves a variety of different learning skills and can enhance your ability to learn and function in several other areas. There are many careers that involve languages such as a diplomat, charity worker and translator to name a few.
Chartered accountant
Diplomatic service
Distribution/logistics manager
Event organiser
Interpreter
Marketing executive
Market researcher
Recruitment consultant
Teacher
Translator
www.bbc.co.uk/languages - The BBC website - for language revision tips
www.languageswork.org.uk - Details on how your language can help you at work
www.llas.ac.uk - Information on studying languages at HE