Languages may help you go places in industry

"You'd be surprised at the number of letters we get from people who want to be United Nations interpreters", said the deputy secretary of the Institute of Linguistics.

Such lack of realism about languages is found at all levels. Every year hundreds of modern language graduates leave university with romantic no­tions of "working with languages" – probably in exotic jobs overseas. After spending several months optimistically offering their services to international organizatons, the BBC, the Foreign Service and large international companies, the truth dawns.

There are, of course, many opportunities for teaching languages, rang­ing from the universities to primary schools.

Teaching apart, there are very few jobs for which languages as such are any qualification. And for these few, competition is very tough. The world demand for conference interpreters (to take just one example) is about 1,111, which means about 60 new entrants to the profession each year. Yet, there are 20,000 hopeful students in the schools for interpreters in Europe.

The key to using languages is to regard them as a bonus – as something extra to offer an employer or to bring to any chosen career. In overseas selling, in advertising, in information work, in libraries, a knowledge of languages can be a tremendous advantage – in some jobs it is essential. But the man concerned must first and foremost be an expert in sales, advertising, information work, or librarianship.

The same applies to scientists and technologists, many of whom need languages in exchanging and acquiring technical information. Girls who couple their languages with secretarial training often land up as high-powered secretaries.

The most direct application of languages is in translating, but even here the linguist has to reinforce his languages with specialist commercial or technical knowledge. If he wants to earn a decent living, he must become an expert, say, in translating Russian papers on rocketry or Spanish legal contracts or Arabic sales literature.

There is, however, a serious shortage of top-class technical translators, though only a few large organizations have translating departments of their own. It is a cardinal rule to translate only into one's own language, so many jobs go to "mother tongues" – foreigners living in this country. Finally, because of industry's tendency to regard translators merely as "little black boxes that tick", career prospects in the usual sense are limited. Translators tend to remain translators.

Industry's prejudice against the language graduate is not unjustified. Many of the traditional languages degrees have been based on classical literature, with the result that even honours graduates are sometimes quite incapable of holding an ordinary conversation in French, or "couldn't translate a simple sentence into contemporary German" – to quote two employers' experiences. Or as one graduate summed it up: "They didn't think that teaching you to speak a language was part of their job".

The practical approach to languages, understanding not only the language but the people who speak it is reflected in the radically different language courses which have developed in past three to four years, mostly in the technological universities or technical colleges. Some of these combine languages with depth study of the political, economic and social background of the relevant countries. Others incorporate a language in degree courses in engineering, metallurgy or communication sciences. Still others combine languages with commerce or business studies.

Overall, the aim is to produce highly competent linguists who can put their languages to practical use in technical or executive positions. They will have acquired a real appreciation of the countries studied. Most of the courses require the students to spend a year overseas – sometimes studying at a foreign university, but more often working in jobs. Bradford University students have worked with Euratom, Woolwich Polytechnic students with marketing companies in Europe; Surrey undergraduates in most varied jobs as book-keeping, public relations and chemical plating. Apart from im­proving their languages these jobs are valuable experience in themselves.

Judging from a cross-section of students I met from the University of Surrey, studying combinations of Russian, French, German with economics, law, politics and linguistics, motivation on this type of course is high. The students were optimistic about getting jobs in which they would be able to apply their languages – ranging from Russian commercial law to exporting and journalism.

2. Make your choice. The author assumes that:

1. Many people who study foreign languages

a) know very well what kind of work they are expected to do;

b) will work as United Nations interpreters;

c) have romantic notions of "working with the languages".

2. Apart from teaching

a) there is a lot of language jobs;

b) there are very few jobs for which languages are any qualification;

c) the world demand for conference interpreters is very high.

3. The key to using languages is

a) to regard them as something extra to bring to the chosen profession;

b) to concentrate on languages only;

с) to specialize in advertising, information work, etc. and forget about thelanguages.

4. In industry translators

a) have good career prospects;

b) have to reinforce their languages with specialist of technical knowledge;

c) normally have to translate into a foreign language.

5. Language training based on classical literature results in

a) excellent knowledge of a spoken foreign language;

b) inability of holding an ordinary conversation;

c) equally good theoretical knowledge and practical skills.

6. The new courses that have recently developed

a) combine languages with background studies of the relevant country and with some practical activity;

b) specialize only in technical subjects;

c) do not attract students.

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