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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Vol/52 No/1 2013 FEBRUARy/MARCH The Linguist 11 FEATURES incorporate methods and techniques that have been positive for students in the past. We follow carefully the development of students, making sure that there are agreements between students and teachers about the 'chunks' of the language to be covered every month. Milestone tests provide an objective measure of progress and let students and teachers know whether they are at – or beyond – the level expected, or if they need further development. This student profiling informs and refines the plan for the next chunk of study. All full-time students spend time abroad before they take their final examination. For 'softer' languages, the average is six weeks, which ideally includes a minimum of two weeks living with a family. In the case of 'harder' languages, eg, Arabic and Mandarin, the student will spend around a year abroad. As much as we would like to reproduce the homestay in those countries, some societies are not used to receiving guests in the home. It is part of my job to visit the schools abroad and establish, when possible, links with families that will receive our students. Another challenge is trying to harmonise the teaching style in London with those of other parts of the world. This requires a high level of 'linguistic diplomacy'. Among some cultures, teachers are 'always right' and sometimes reluctant to adopt an approach that would benefit a Western student. We encourage students to use their diplomatic skills to explain to teachers what works better for their learning. Our team of specialists visits schools and observes demonstration lessons before entering into contractual arrangements, and this has proved invaluable. Along the same lines, we make inspection visits to make sure that providers don't become complacent and that schools continue to develop materials and keep abreast of developments in the field of applied linguistics. The last word in this interesting journey is when we visit an Embassy and talk to officers who are now well into their posts. Their feedback is vital, as it shows whether all the work has given them the confidence and the skills to perform their job. Then our role is to feedback to the schools in London and abroad with their suggestions, in order to improve the experiences of future students. As you can see, thanks to the Babel disaster, I have one of the most interesting jobs in this field. This article is based on an informal talk given by Marta Nuñez at an event organised by the BPG Division at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office in June 2012. Notes 1 Diplomatic Excellence in the 21st Century, William Hague speech, 9/7/12 SPEAKING ON CAMERA The British Ambassador to Morocco, Timothy Morris, talks to 2M TV level A2. There are also continuous development opportunities to attend language classes in the key diplomatic languages: Arabic, Chinese, Farsi, French, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Turkish. Language programmes provided by Rosetta Stone are available as an additional facility for all staff. A lonely journey? In many cases officers embark on a lonely journey through one-to-one lessons, currently disseminated in 15 schools. Recently we procured a prime provider that will act as a central point for the organisation of language training, and we hope to open a Language Centre at our London headquarters in September, where all lessons (with the exception of French) will be delivered. This is expected to mitigate the feeling of isolation that some of our trainees go through. It is fair to say that the journey of learning a language is very personal. We have officers who join the FCO with a strong linguistic background, others with no previous experience of learning a language, and some with unhappy memories of learning languages at school. I frequently say that learning a language is much more than learning a language: very often there is a stage of 'regression' when students are reminded of past experiences, become dependent on the teacher, get lost in the journey and discouraged during 'plateau' stages. Motivation and an understanding of the stages of this journey are key. Those who are already successful linguists have their own way of learning and it is important that tutors are flexible enough to For the ambassadorial role we are making a strong point of their ability to deal with the media at official events P HOTOS : © C ROWn COPyRIGHT