The career issues of language students
As I near the end of my studies, I find myself frantically searching for career ideas. The main issue with studying languages is that I leave my options open for many different career paths, but don’t necessarily have the required skills to undertake such careers.
Of course teaching is a ‘no-brainer’ career for a language student, but I have long since decided that this is not the path which I wish to follow. Although the idea of passing on the knowledge I have gained throughout my studies is one that really interests me, I find myself terrified by the prospect of standing up in front of a group of young people (who don’t necessarily want to be there) while I prattle on about the intricacies of the German language.
Translation and interpreting is another option which occurs to me. I do actually find the idea quite interesting, being given projects of different types and from different sources in order to translate them to the best of my ability. Interpreting is also a rather exciting idea, I enjoy working with people, I enjoy talking, so what better job than one which allows me to be the literal middle man in a conversation?
One thing that I realise about myself is that I have a lot of stored motivation, which I need to somehow channel into a specific field. My advice to anyone who studies languages of any kind is to know what you want to do from an early stage in order to hone your abilities, instead of floating around in the uncertainty of pre-unemployment.
Of course teaching is a ‘no-brainer’ career for a language student, but I have long since decided that this is not the path which I wish to follow. Although the idea of passing on the knowledge I have gained throughout my studies is one that really interests me, I find myself terrified by the prospect of standing up in front of a group of young people (who don’t necessarily want to be there) while I prattle on about the intricacies of the German language.
Translation and interpreting is another option which occurs to me. I do actually find the idea quite interesting, being given projects of different types and from different sources in order to translate them to the best of my ability. Interpreting is also a rather exciting idea, I enjoy working with people, I enjoy talking, so what better job than one which allows me to be the literal middle man in a conversation?
One thing that I realise about myself is that I have a lot of stored motivation, which I need to somehow channel into a specific field. My advice to anyone who studies languages of any kind is to know what you want to do from an early stage in order to hone your abilities, instead of floating around in the uncertainty of pre-unemployment.
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