Why are languages important?
Beat off the competition
Let’s face it- we need to grab any opportunity we can to boost our CV or get that promotion at work. Learning a language could just be your answer and having that extra skill might just give you that edge to beat off competition in an increasingly competitive job market.
It’s not all about enhancing your résumé either! With a growing global economy, you could be working with people whose first language isn't English. Maybe it's a team in India, a manufacturer in China, or an alternative energy supplier in Germany; being able to communicate in other languages makes you much more valuable to employers.
The Association for Language Learning has a dedicated webpage with links to partner sites on why learning languages is important. Click here.
SCILT has put together some excellent information about job profiles, careers in Languages and a list of useful websites which you can find here.
Routes into Languages, a project in England which is funded by the Higher Education Funding Council, focuses on promoting the take-up of languages and student mobility. It has a dedicated section on its website which looks at reasons for studying languages.
Watch this video by Routes into Languages about why you should study a language.
The Education and Employers Taskforce has published a document called ‘The Economic Case for Language Learning and the role of Employer Engagement’ which looks more closely at the correlation between language learning and employment. To view this document click here.
Inspiring the Future are currently connecting more than 6,000 teachers from primary and secondary schools in England, Scotland and Wales with a pool of volunteers who have used or are using languages in their careers. Although the service has not yet been launched in N Ireland there are already 31 volunteers in N Ireland, mainly in Belfast, who have signed up for the programme and some of them are willing to come and talk to your students about using languages in their career. They work in a wide range of occupations and for organisations drawn from all sectors. For more information on using this facility click here.