So, I have been working as a welcome week ambassador at Kings College London this week, which means I have the usual job of sending the nervous new freshers in to collect their ID’s as they begin to embark on their life changing journey at University. I would like to think of myself as a chirpy, social person who is very interested in the lives of others, a fancy way of calling me nosey basically. This means I am actually so intrigued by what others choose to study for the time they are at Uni and as they walk toward me I am hit with the likes of ‘Philosophy’, ‘Music’, ‘English’ until one student utters the word ‘Law’ but not just ‘Law’, ‘Law with French’! My eyes and ears light up as I tell them how wonderful that is, out of the many I asked, a language student finally! When I tell students or people in general that I am reading French with English, I often get the ‘Wow, that’s brave, I hated French at school’ or ‘Oh so you want to become a teacher?’ or the funniest, just a scoff from a medical student (only joking… or am I?).
In an article published by the BBC earlier on this year by education editor Branwen Jeffreys, Jeffreys writes how German and French have dropped by 50% in UK schools as schools brand foreign languages as ‘difficult subjects’ and that students just have no care to study them.
When I tell you my little language learning heart is shattered, I am not lying. I don’t actually think people realise how great learning foreign languages are and the opportunities and skills that are afforded to those who choose to study them. Foreign languages are no more difficult than Science or Maths and I believe you just have to find the right way to approach it. Although generalising, it would not surprise me if people view languages as a less fixed approach into a career- and frankly I am here to set the record straight on why we shouldn’t scoff at languages and why it is better to pick one up regardless of your age!
1.Cultural Awareness
It is really important to understand that people from different cultures and different walks of life think differently and the fact that you are able to grasp this through merely learning another language is fascinating and puts you in a far better league! It projects that as an individual you are able to be open minded and accepting of how others lead their lives. As well as just speaking it, languages increase cultural awareness and your ability to work with people from around the world. Matthew Fell, chief UK policy director for business group the CBI, said: ‘The decline in language learning in schools must be reversed, or else the UK will be less competitive globally and young people less prepared for the modern world.’
2. Improves General Intelligence
Before coming to University, I wouldn’t have believed the vast range of modules I have taken through my languages degree- from Albert Camus’ existentialist philosophy to the founding of courtly love in French literature- learning a language extends your ability to capture subjects through global lenses which I think its incredible. Languages are known to also improve general intelligence and renders you more capable when noticing and remembering things. A lot about learning languages is not only understanding but memorisation and who doesn’t love those who are able to remember the little things?
3. Transferable Skills
Language-learning activates the grey cells in the brain. Multilingualism also develops the following transferable skills highly sought after by employers in today’s global market. Language learning improves your decision-making, observation, critical thinking as well as your oral and written communication. You have to be an avid and resilient problem solver when learning languages and be willing and motivated to put your time into something and be ok with making mistakes. You will also see your confidence grow as you try to engage with native speakers, which will help your confidence growth in all other aspects of your life! There is A LOT of independent learning when it comes to learning another language which earns you more respect from not only your peers and family but also employers!
4. Revision
A lot of my revising comes from watching foreign movies, reading newspapers or listening to French radio! How is that 13-page medicine homework booklet coming along?
5. Your Year Abroad and Employability
I think the most exciting thing to come out of a language degree is most definitely your year abroad! Completely immersed in another culture whilst grappling and improving with the language as well as meeting new people and having new responsibilities, your independence, confidence and resilience are bound to improve. I am embarking on mine this year and I am so excited to fill everyone in on the pros of it. A year abroad can be tailored to suit you as it may consist of; teaching placements, university placements, short language-intensive vacation courses and/or work placements (either sourced or applied for). I will be working with the British Council as a teaching assistant in Bordeaux and to say I am excited is honestly an understatement!
Not only are languages flexible as degrees- you can read it as a joint honour or a major minor honour, Kings College allow you to actually pick up a language through the Modern Languages Centre as an extra qualification which I highly recommend!
The UK is desperate for graduates who can speak other languages with the top three being Spanish, Arabic and French. It is a myth to state that languages only provide you with teaching or translating jobs as people often miss out that you can honestly go into anything! From the likes of Journalism, Government, the UN, Law, Finance, you are going to be walking into an interview room as a very employable graduate with a broad range of fantastic skills that your language qualification/s have afforded you.