You may be fed up of hearing about it, but I study languages. I study French and Chinese. People ask me why I chose that combination, which is a fair question – it’s an odd one. Truth be told I don’t remember a moment where I decided; it started with French because I love it and I was good at it in school… then I suppose Chinese was added to the mix to make me more employable. A boring reason, I know, but not everything in life is poetic.
Every now and then however I get someone asking me why I study languages. ‘You’ll never get any jobs, just learn it on holiday or something’.
Studying languages does not mean I sit there conjugating verbs all day. In fact, a minuscule part of a language degree is actually about learning how to speak it; it’s presumed that we will do that off our own backs ‘on holiday… or something’. What we do study is literature, economics, history, philosophy, politics, geography and the list goes on.
Thanks to my time so far studying French and Contemporary Chinese Studies at the University of Nottingham, I can discuss French immigration policies and link it all the way back to the enlightenment period and colonisation in the 16th century while referencing 18th century literature. I can discuss many-a-philosophical theory, linking Homer from around 850BCE to Dante in the Middle Ages to 19th century Flaubert. I can discuss identity problems in the French Antilles and their political future, I can discuss China’s economy and what its biggest issues will be in the next 10 years, CCP censorship and its future, French cinema, Wagner’s operas and their link to Star Wars, the French education system, Chinese education system, popular culture, international trade, the list goes on and on. I’ve also spent 6 months in France and 6 months in China so I know how to conduct myself in formal situations without offending Chinese business people or making any francais faux pas.
Oh and I can write and speak two extra languages.
How does this all transfer into skills you can use in the workplace? Well how does anything we study transfer? Analytical skills, predictions, theories, arguments, creativity, essays, reports, debates, projects etc etc… but most importantly I am well equipped to join in with dinner-time discussions with my grandmother.
So, to conclude this passive aggressive rant, if you’re choosing your degree, choose languages. If you’re employing someone, employ a languages graduate. If you’re belittling somebody at pre-drinks because they study languages, know that they’re not fighting back because they’re too busy pondering Confucius poetry, not because you’re right.
This made me chuckle