The Linguist

The Linguist 58,5 - October/November 2019

The Linguist is a languages magazine for professional linguists, translators, interpreters, language professionals, language teachers, trainers, students and academics with articles on translation, interpreting, business, government, technology

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16 The Linguist Vol/58 No/5 2019 ciol.org.uk/tl T hroughout my career, i've worked in many different fields with one thing in common: languages. as a recent graduate with a degree in german and Spanish, i worked as an Export Sales assistant, liaising with agents and distributors around the world. When i started a family and chose to stay at home, i offered private tuition. as my children have grown up, i've retrained in translation, embarking on a fulfilling new career as a literary translator. i know through personal experience that learning a language doesn't necessarily lead to a single career, but can accompany you throughout your life as your circumstances change. this is one of the reasons i feel strongly about inspiring future generations of linguists. i see it as my duty as a linguist to share the benefits of learning a language with children and young people. to that end, i have started volunteering to go into schools to talk about languages. there are different ways of getting involved, from contacting your local school directly (perhaps the one your children attend) to signing up to initiatives such as inspiring the Future and Business language Champions. Schools can log on to the inspiring the Future website to find local professionals to help at events and contact them to check their availability. Be prepared for anything the events i have attended have all been very different. Earlier this year, i participated in a Year 8 speed-dating style event at the long Eaton School. groups of children rotated around the speakers, including representatives of the raF, East midlands airport and Novotel Hotel group, who were there to help convince children to take a language at gCSE. it was a great opportunity to showcase the variety of roles within the field of languages. the teacher who coordinated the event, ann-marie Carman, concluded: "it is so important that students like ours meet people like yourselves as much as possible. they get to hear about so many real experiences from real people!" Not all volunteering opportunities are specifically language events, and i was asked to attend a Year 10 Why volunteering to talk to school children about language careers is so rewarding. By Claire Storey Raising aspirations FUTURE LINGUISTS A recent Primary Futures event organised by Education and Employers at a primary school in Coventry (main image and above) © Emma FitzgErald © Emma FitzgErald

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