[lg policy] UK: For Queen and country: Fluent speakers of foreign languages are in hot demand in the civil and secret services

[Harold Schiffman]

For Queen and country: Fluent speakers of foreign languages are in hot
demand in the civil and secret services

By Helena Pozniak

Thursday, 15 October 2009

Britons have always been famously bad at languages, yet a command of a
foreign tongue has long been valued by the British government. Several
hundred years ago, London was keen to recruit Turkish speakers in
order to keep tabs on the burgeoning Ottoman Empire. These days, Farsi
or Chechen speakers might be more in demand, but the principle remains
the same. Linguists are essential to the smooth working of many
government departments and agencies, and are particularly valued in
the covert world of the intelligence services.


"Being a linguist says a lot about you as a person," says Teresa
Tinsley at the National Centre for Languages, Cilt. "An international
perspective is highly valued; it's not just about the language
skills." And cultural awareness – combined with languages – is
essential in much government work, be it in shaping European
environmental policy, gathering intelligence, or helping UK nationals
abroad.

http://www.independent.co.uk/student/career-planning/getting-job/for-queen-and-country-fluent-speakers-of-foreign-languages-are-in-hot-demand-in-the-civil-and-secret-services-1802621.html
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