Find out just how important learning Languages can be

Languages can help you to get on in many exciting areas of work. They make the job more international, you can get to travel more, meet people from lots of different cultures and even take on new responsibilities – just because you speak the lingo, the customer’s language. Did you know that customers on-line are four times more likely to buy when addressed in their mother tongue?  Surprised? Well just put yourself in their shoes!

It’s not just the Internet that is influencing use of languages in the world of work though. Other new media, like digital subtitling, have a huge impact on communication in the 21st century, and how information can be channelled in different languages. Even journalists working more traditionally know they need languages to cover news in different territories around the world. Read on to find out how two people working in the media have got on using their languages.

Marc - Marc works as a freelance journalist, interpreter and translator.  He used to play in the band ‘Doves’ and has worked for Manchester United, interpreting in Portuguese for Ronaldo and Kleberson.

Describe your work
In my work as a journalist, I have been able to get on assignments that other writers would have found more difficult to set up … A good example would be a feature for Maxim magazine that I did which enabled me to go to Brazil and appear on a live television gameshow. I had to set the feature up, which took weeks of faxes, emails and telephone calls. Without being highly fluent in Portuguese, I would not even have managed to reach the stage where I even knew the right production office within the offices of the broadcaster in question, let alone to be able to make sure the actual execution of the feature went smoothly.

Any tips?
Journalists have to have a story no-one else can get in order to have good bargaining power. Interpreters and translators, especially when they’re in the right place at the right time, have a skill that few people have. The combination can be extremely powerful.

Lola - Lola is Head of Project Management at VSI in London.  She studied French and German at university, and worked as a bilingual temp.

Describe your work
I manage projects from initial discussion stage to translation and/or subtitling and then technical finishing processes and final delivery … All aspects of my language ability are tested: the job involves reading, for example, checking translations into English, and recognising basic faults in second languages. I need to use my languages over the ‘phone and in direct contact with foreign clients. … Some projects can be quite exciting: our clients include well-known TV channels as well as some of the key players you might know from the music industry, such as the big music channels.
 
Any tips?
Strong organisational skills are just as important as good language skills. If you want to get into subtitling, try to find a course in subtitling or a university that offers more practical modules. Be realistic about how much you will get to use your languages in the media; unless you are a translator or interpreter, it may well not be on a daily basis.

For more case studies like these, and inspiration and advice on using your languages at work, go to our website www.languageswork.org.uk. Languages Work promotes the true value of languages in the workplace and beyond.  It is operated by CILT, the National Centre for Languages and supported by the DfES.