Who needs them?
To take advantage of the opportunities in today's global jobs market, young people need to wake up to the need for language skills - and the fact that acquiring them can be quite fun… Teresa Tinsley of the Centre for Information on language Teaching and Research (CILT) debunks a few myths.
Everyone speaks English, don't they?Well, no. Actually only about 6.5% of the world's population speak it as a first language. Researchers calculate that another18.5% speak it as a second or foreign language which leaves 75% of humanity who don't understand a word. No-one would deny that English is now a global language, and that there has been a massive growth in English learning throughout the world - but that just means that the world is becoming more multilingual - and monolingual English speakers are being left behind.Today there is a global market for jobs. Once others speak English, they can compete for jobs in the English-speaking market. They are not learning English for our benefit!
Languages are not a vocational option
Languages can be studied in an academic way - but many courses are really practical, especially those that combine languages with another subject. The range of vocational degrees involving a language is virtually limitless - from Accountancy with Russian to Engineering with Italian. Subjects like Business Studies or IT combine particularly well with a language and you'll get a much broader range of possibilities after graduating. And even if you don't want to do a language as a main subject, many universities offer institution-wide language programmes which mean you can take up a new language or keep up one your learnt at school alongside your other subjects.
The only jobs you can do with languages are teaching or translating
Language graduates have a vast array of career opportunities open to them, ranging from work with well-known multinational companies to international organisations or charities. There are exciting opportunities - often involving travel abroad - in almost every sector. A recent survey shows that only about 5% of language graduates go into teaching, and much fewer into translating or interpreting. About 27% go into business services, and around 10% go into each of the following: manufacturing, sales, banking/finance, community/social services, transport/communications. Don't think you're limiting your career options by choosing languages.
There's no demand for language skills in the jobs market
You may be surprised to know that language graduates have lower rates of unemployment than graduates in the great majority of other subjects - only 3% of German graduates were still unemployed at the time of a recent survey, as opposed to over 5% of those with degrees in Business Studies, and an amazing 8% of those who did Computing. Employers are waking up to the need to recruit people with languages - and not just the obvious ones either. Community languages such as Arabic, Urdu and Chinese are increasingly being required too, as are Welsh and British Sign Language. Rest assured if you choose languages your skills will be in high demand.
Jobs with languages don't pay well
Because of the shortage of English native speakers with language skills, employers are willing to pay over the odds. The Guardian reported last year that secretarial and clerical staff with languages can earn 20% extra than those with only English. Another survey of the jobs market generally found employers paid on average 8% more for staff with languages. Having another language often gives you the edge when it comes to promotion or competing for a plum job.
Language courses are all boring
With languages, the idea is to learn to communicate, and course designers have realised for some years now that sitting with your head in a book is not the best way to do this! The project work and activities you can get involved in on language courses now are really exciting. For example, students at the University of Central Lancashire take part in an international challenge via video-conferencing, competing with teams in Germany and Scandinavia to resolve a business problem. Language courses may give you experience of working in international teams and a whole range of ICT applications which will be useful in the future as well as fun.
Learning languages is a hard slog!
Languages are a very sociable subject. It's hard work learning to banter or tell jokes in another language, but it's fun too! If you enjoy being with people and communicating with them, the chances are you'll enjoy doing it in a foreign language too. And you get to travel abroad! Most language courses include a year in a country where the language is spoken, where you can attend courses at a foreign university or get valuable work experience.
It doesn't teach you anything worthwhile
Another language is a concrete and demonstrable skill - like being able to drive a car or touch type. But learning a language teaches you all sorts of other valuable things too - which you'll find invaluable later when you get into work. Using language to persuade, argue or explain, preparing presentations, putting text in different forms for different audiences, just putting ideas across clearly - all these are vital skills for the workplace, whatever language you're operating in. Learning how to interact with speakers of other languages can help you to see things from a range of perspectives - making you more adaptable, creative, and insightful. The ability to operate cross-culturally is becoming just as much valued by employers as straight language skills.
It's difficult to get to a good enough level
Of course some jobs - like translating into the foreign language - involve a very high level of competence and are best done by a native speaker. Others require specialist knowledge of the context you're working in - which you will pick up on the job. But in today's multilingual world, when a different language can pop up any time in an e-mail or on the phone - then what you'll need is the ability to tell at a glance whether that fax is an order, and which department it should go to; to make the foreign visitors feel at ease and welcomed; to spot opportunities or problems that the monolingual won't be aware of. You'll be surprised how much you can do, and how your fluency will increase with practice.
