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  Alumni

We always like to hear from alumni of the department, and hope that once our current students leave, they will keep in touch.

If you are a former student, and would like to pass on news that we could put on this page, please write to Nerea Arruti at nerea.arruti@abdn.ac.uk

We recently heard from Myra Wattie who was a student in the Spanish Department for 3 years and graduated in 1995. She is now teaching Spanish and French at Aberdeen Grammar School. In 2001 she spent a month in Lima, Peru working for the charity ADESA in their school in the slum area of Villa Estela. In 2002 she spent a week in Mallorca with 4 other teachers from Aberdeen observing the education system there. The Mallorcans then came over here for a week in September. She says: " It was a great experience for everyone. It also got me interested in Catalan as spoken in Mallorca. I found I could easily understand all the school materials that were in written form but it was a different story understanding speech. However that is now a new interest for me."

Eva Langlands, a member of the class of 2000, who tells us that "Since graduating in 2000 with Joint Hons Hispanic and German Studies, I have gone on to follow a range of travel and study options. Because of my Danish heritage, I spent three months at a Danish eductational institution under the pretence of 'widening my education' - but largely relaxed with a bottle of Carlsberg and improved my language skills. I then travelled to Latin America, first to Bolivia and then to Chile, where I worked for nine months as a reporter for an English-language internet newspaper. It had always been my dream to go to Latin America, and both the work and travel experiences more than lived up to my expectations.

Then resolute on entering the media profession, I returned to Scotland to do a postgraduate diploma in journalism studies. Now two years on from graduation I am working as a reporter for the Sunday Herald, and am happy to say that my time with the Hispanic Department stood me in very good stead for the things to come. Without a doubt, the warmth and support of the departmental staff helped myself and other students indulge in an extremely worthwhile and enjoyable learning experience".

Alistair Kannan, a member of the class of 2000 (Single Honours in Hispanic Studies), has spent the last two years in Colombia. He is currently pursuing a career in acting and he is also directing short films in Colombia.

Irina Romero, a member of the class of 2000 (Single Honours in Hispanic Studies), has just started an MA in Latin American Studies at The Institute of Latin American Studies in London. She has been awarded a Reid Trust grant.

Emma Wilson, a member of the class of 2000 (Joint Honours International Relations and Hispanic Studies), Having spent a year out in Peru (she gained relevant work experience with a NGO whilst abroad) she has just started an MA in Development Studies at the University of East Anglia. She has been awarded a Reid Trust grant.

Sinikka Pösö, a member of the class of 2002 (Single Honours in Hispanic Studies) , is about to start an MA course in Latin American Studies at the University of Helsinki whilst she works for ICYE (International Cultural Youth Exchange) as programme coordinator. She has written the following about the current position: "I have now been working as programme co-ordinator for over a month and it is really interesting. Basically my job is to make sure all goes well with young volunteer workers, who come to Finland normally for 12 months. I find them projects, host-families, help them with their pocket money, insurance, etc. It is so great, because just during this month I have met over 30 young people from all over the world and I have had the chance to use all three languages I speak...Finnish, English and Spanish...I have even ended up using a bit of Catalan, which I studied in Aberdeen during my first two years. Also this month has reminded me again how similar the Romance languages are. With my Spanish, I have found it suprisingly easy to follow conversations in Italian and in (Brazilian) Portuguese...and even to try to explain something to them...naturally understanding was so much easier than explaining!;-) But as usual there is another side to the job and that is the more official side to it. I am getting to know how the bureaucracy and other official bodies work in my country and in the EU. A part of my job is to deal with various kinds of European Commission applications. All in all, I must say that I am really enjoying what I do. The pay may not be that great, but after all it is my first job after the graduation. More than money I am hoping to gain more relevant experience in the field I wish to work in (NGOs), to meet more people from all over the world (all the continents) and to gain more international experience. For me this opportunity was too good to miss right after my graduation. Our web pages are: www.maailmanvaihto.fi [ICYE is an international organisation, which is over 50 years old]. The webpages for ICYE International Office can be found in: www.icye.org and the ICYE UK in www.icye.co.uk"

Careers Information

Welcome to the new careers information corner! We will publish information on careers in this page. You should check it alongside the Aberdeen University Careers Service Webpages. Please send us your own suggestions for this page. The Careers representative for the School of Modern Languages is Professor Alison Saunders - a.saunders@abdn.ac.uk.

"There is a widespread myth that students are better doing a vocational subject, if they want to improve their chances of getting a job when they graduate. However, it is a remarkably well kept secret that unemployment rates for foreign language graduates are lower than those for graduates in computing, engineering or business studies. "

Modern Languages Degrees are highly valued by a wide variety of employers, as you can see from the quotation above, which is taken from a report by Keith Marshall, Lecturer in French at the University of Bangor (in Liaison,Newsletter for the Subject Centre for Languages, Linguistics and Area Studies, July 2000)

Derived from: First Destinations of Students Leaving Higher Education Institutions 1997-98

"Why are the linguists doing so well in the job market? The beginning of the answer lies in the fact that, in the UK, some 35%-40% of graduate jobs are open to people from any discipline. And it is in this area of the jobs market that the linguists are beating their competitors from other subjects. [...] Linguists are particularly well qualified in communication skills, which employers place high on their list of priorities. [...] But the unique selling point that language graduates have to offer is the year they spend abroad. Obviously, it gives them a good oral command of the language (s). More to the point, it also means that they have acquired, by this pretty testing experience, a capacity for coping with the unfamiliar, a flexibility, a maturity which three years spent in a UK university does not usually provide. These are the qualities of mind and character which impress employers, even those who regard foreign language skills as unimportant. The combination of a distinctive bundle of generic personal skills and the ability to communicate them effectively, is what gives linguists the edge over graduates in other subjects."

Hispanic Studies, School of Language & Literature
Taylor Building · University of Aberdeen · Aberdeen · AB24 3UB · Scotland
Telephone: +44 (0)1224-272549 · Fax: +44 (0)1224-272624

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Page last modified: Wednesday, 04-Aug-2004 11:39:22 BST

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