Study Languages at University and Give Yourself the Edge

You may be getting mixed messages about studying Modern Foreign Languages. Every summer there is news of the declining numbers of students taking a language at GCSE. When this became optional in 2004, many voted to abandon language learning which they found “too boring” or “too hard”.

Yet, at the same time, newspaper articles highlight market demand for employees to be able to operate in more than one language in an increasingly international business context. Many UK based companies, big and small, are hiring new trainees from elsewhere in the European Union who have this capability because they simply cannot recruit staff with the skills they need on this side of the Channel.

You may say: the English have always been rubbish at languages, and everyone speaks English anyway, but in an increasingly globalised marketplace, it is a real advantage to have two languages or more. And the more you learn, the easier it gets.

Monolingualism can seriously damage your wealth.

As Sir Trevor McDonald says in Talking World Class (CILT 2005):

“We are in a privileged position speaking one of the world’s major languages, and we benefit in many ways from others’ eagerness to gravitate towards the English-speaking world. But it is a dangerous assumption to go on from there to believing that English is the only language needed for communication in the global economy. If we are complacent about tackling language issues, I believe we will do serious damage to our competitiveness and to our future prosperity.”

Languages are not only a trump card in employability terms; they also offer a brilliant opportunity to find out more about the world, to travel with confidence and savour new experiences. Study of a language involves learning about aspects of a culture, its cinema, food, music, politics and history. By looking more closely at others, we learn more about ourselves. Language learning is also a great way of acquiring those transferable skills, which everyone needs in life: communication, team-working, problem-solving, making presentations, to name but a few.

As Chair of UCML, the University Council of Modern Languages, one of my aims is to promote the wide range of language study opportunities offered by the Council’s members in university departments across the UK. You can follow the single honours route, where everything you do focuses on deepening your skills and knowledge of one language and the countries in which it is spoken, or else study two or even three languages. You might want to choose a programme which emphasises professional skills, including translation and interpreting, or a course which focuses on comparative analysis of European literature. There is a wide range of options. You can combine a language with another subject, such as law, history, management or sociology, and include a period of study or a work placement abroad. Even if your chosen subject fills your regular timetable, it’s possible to keep up languages through university wide language programmes, where you can take up a new language or improve your competence in one you are already familiar with.

Some universities have decided to make a language qualification an entry requirement for all degree courses. It’s worth noting that, if in the future you want to do post-graduate research, it can be a serious disadvantage if you can only refer to material in English and have no language learning experience. The current shortage of linguistic skills has been highlighted recently by Onora O’Neill, President of the British Academy, as a major issue for the quality of British research.

So, are you up for the challenge? Language study means mastering a complex system, gaining insight from having two or more languages to compare, opening up new worlds, enjoying new friendships. Indeed, if you still need persuading, remember this: the ability to speak more than one language has been shown to increase your appeal to others; it makes you more interesting.

So, boost your charm rating, learn another language, and it will pay dividends.

Dr Pam Moores

Head of School
The School of Languages and Social Sciences
Aston University

www.aston.ac.uk