Should I pursue a career in languages?

Question

I really love learning languages currently learning french and spanish which I'm taking for GCSE.

I was just wondering about whether or not it would be a good idea to take these to a higher level, is it easy to get a career in languages? Also, would I have to stick with atleast 2 or even more ?

How many would I need to know to have a good career in it ?

thanksx

Answer 1

If you love learning them, by all means take them further. Travel to the countries concerned and gain real fluency and at the same time look around to see what other careers are open to you. The two you are doing are a good start and you can make up your mind later on as to adding more strings to your bow. Most successful careers using languages are not built on the languages themselves, but on using the languages as a valuable adjunct. Very few people indeed of the many thousands studying languages at university are going to make it as professional linguists, but with a linguistic background it is possible to do well in a host of other careers in things like banking, insurance, management, etc. There are some very good courses on offer where you can study languages together with a practical skill which will enable you to embark on a career of that kind. Just one example: http://www.bath.ac.uk/prospectus/undergrad/esml/

Answer 2

If you like writing, you might be able to get a job as a translator. I think for most interpreter jobs, people tend to have less well-known languages (an awful lot of people in the world know French or Spanish and English, or all three).

French and Spanish would be good if you'd like to work in tourism, I think---not sure what you're counting as a language career.

Answer 3

if u hv flair for language - pl go ahead. its good. it can make lots of $$$ too. graduate to simultaneous interpreting and more $$. french is worth it as its getting fewer. chinese is better still. its not tough. go to china and within 6mths u'll get it.