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<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" align="center"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">===========================================<br>
L O W L A N D S - L - 08 April 2009 - Volume 08<br>
===========================================</span></p>
<p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br>
From: <span class="gd"><span style="color: rgb(121, 6, 25);">Pat Reynolds</span></span></span><span class="gi"> </span><span class="go"><<a href="mailto:pat@caerlas.demon.co.uk">pat@caerlas.demon.co.uk</a>></span><br>
Subject: <span class="gi">LL-L "Careers" 2009.04.07 (07) [E]</span><br>
<br>
Lowlands-L List i.e. Gregg wrote:</p>
<p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br>
However what I want to know is how many of you actually work within a language
or linguistic based field of work. What would you recommend if I wanted to get
into a similar field? I am not just curious as to learn a language, but the
study of language evolution, history and culture etc etc, I also am obsessed
with.</span></p>
<p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Â </span></p>
<p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">I hope
someone more qualified than I will be able to respond more apporopriately, but
thought I would as someone who works in the history/culture field.<br>
<br>
There are various kinds of work - academia, public service (e.g. museum
curatorship), commercial heritage work (including some archives and much
 archaeology), jobs where cultural sensitivity and language knowledge are
 an important extra layer to other skills (e.g. Traveller Education
Service teacher, international legal or business firm, and avocational work
(i.e. stuff you do in your own time, which the paying job makes possible).<br>
<br>
The last might seem to you to be the least attractive options - after all, who
would want to work 9 to 5 in Genetics, only to be able to work 7 to 10 in
languages? Â Well, as one climbs the tree (if one does), less and less of
that 9 to 5 becomes Genetics (or translation, or teaching, or whatever), and
more and more becomes "management". Â So you might find, 20 years
down the line, that it is better to have got yourself a job that ticks boxes
for you when it comes to money, location, security, etc. and allows you to
persue your avocational interests, rather than in 20 years being in a job which
is worse for you in the tick-boxes, but just happens to be in your preferred
industry.<br>
<br>
I have no idea what kinds of employment will be open to you after your MSc.
 The idea of finding such work in a country where you want to learn the
language and experience the culture sounds excellent. Â One thing I know
about Sweden: post-graduate study is (?sometimes) free - so if you can find
work, you may be able to study fairly easily in order to make a conversion (the
mainstream heritage/culture things all do, generally, need formal qualification
- the exceptions being people who learn via volunteering or professional
expertise in (for example) steam railways or marketing, and those who enter at
the managerial level.<br>
<br>
I sympathise, by the way, on the issue of native speakers who switch to a
different language. Â The Dutch are very bad - always switching to German
or English, even when I ask that they don't. Â Welsh speakers I found (30
years ago) were usually happy to keep with Welsh, if I explained (in Welsh)
that I was a learner, and it would really help, etc. etc.<br>
<br>
Cheers,<br>
<br>
Pat<br>
<span style="color: rgb(136, 136, 136);"><br>
-- <br>
Pat Reynolds<br>
<br>
It may look messy now ...<br>
    ... but just you come back in 500 years time (T.
Pratchett).</span></span></p>
•
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