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
