UndergraduateModern Languages placements
In Honours Modern Languages, we give students the opportunity to do a placement of their choice. It can range from teaching, translating and interpreting to tour guiding and doing research - in situ or remotely.
The 20-credit module aims to apply language skills to real-life experiences and allow students to become more acquainted with industry-level expectations.
We outline some recent placement experiences of Modern Languages students who have added to their CV, developed their research skills and have used their studied languages in a practical setting.
For more information, please contact:
- French: Murielle Jousseau at murielle.jousseau@strath.ac.uk
- Spanish: Dr Lidia Acosta at lidia.acosta@strath.ac.uk
Molly Richley
BA Joint Hons Spanish & French
I found a placement in Education at a local primary school. They were delighted to have me teach French to the pupils. I worked one day a week, teaching French to the upper half of the school, where I had to plan my own lessons and deliver them to the classes.
The placement did take up a lot of time in my second semester, as I was working one day a week and had lots of planning and organising to do on top of my other studies. But this helped improve my time management and timekeeping skills greatly, which definitely helped come my final exams.
I learned a lot from the experience and I developed skills in adaptability, critical thinking, confidence and lots more. I also gained lots of important experience which will help me in my future career. Although only teaching basic French as the children had never learned it before, it was a helpful revision tool for the rest of my studies.
The module is a great opportunity to gain experience in different fields and even test out potential career paths. Overall, it was very rewarding and the skills and experience I gained have been very useful for my future. I really enjoyed it and would recommend!
I developed skills in adaptability, critical thinking, confidence and lots more. I also gained lots of important experience which will help me in my future career. Although only teaching basic French as the children had never learned it before, it was a helpful revision tool for the rest of my studies.
I gained practical experience in an area I had never worked in before which has been beneficial to both my professional development and strengthening my CV. It also helped me with my studies as I gained extra practice doing translations
Elise Wyper
BA Joint Hons Spanish & Hospitality & Tourism Management
As part of the Spanish Student Placement module I undertook a seven-week work placement with ScotBeer Tours, an Edinburgh based company who operate tours in several Scottish cities.
ScotBeer Tours offer a wide range of tours relating to beer such as history tours and brewery tours, in addition to offering tours in both English and French. As part of my placement, I translated one of their tours into Spanish. My other responsibilities included conducting market research on the tourism industry in Scotland to determine which tour to translate, researching trends, likes and dislikes of Spanish-speaking tourists, and translating the company’s brewery tour from English to Spanish.
I would highly recommend doing this module to everyone as it is extremely rewarding. I gained practical experience in an area I had never worked in before which has been beneficial to both my professional development and strengthening my CV. It also helped me with my studies as I gained extra practice doing translations. I have maintained contact with my placement mentor, established invaluable connections and have recently been told the company has now launched Spanish tours, thanks to my help.
Ana McCallum
BA Joint Hons Spanish & French
During my final year, I managed to get a placement within a secondary school in the area where I live. I wanted a placement within a school as I had considered education as a career path after my undergraduate studies. Being the first set of students to do this module was a little daunting as it was a learning curve for everyone - including the lecturers. But it was worth all the stress.
I learned so many skills within my placement and further developed skills I already had. Working with different age levels and language levels allowed me to differentiate my lessons and allow me to learn key skills that I will need in my future career as an educator. I learned disciplinary skills that are used within a classroom setting and learned how to create boundaries between myself and the pupils that I was working with. Not only did the placement allow me to build professionalism, but it also allowed me to build on myself; it pushed me out of my comfort zone and threw me into the deep end.
I would say, for myself, the placement module was an unforgettable experience, and it is something I will treasure forever. I am so pleased to have done it in a school, as it has opened so many doors for me, including the career path I want to take. It allowed me to flourish, gain practical hands-on experience whilst practicing and using my language skills to inspire young minds of the next generation.
The placement module was an unforgettable experience and it is something I will treasure forever. It allowed me to discover my career path and allowed me to flourish, gain practical hands-on experience whilst practicing and using my language skills to inspire young minds of the next generation.
Study with us
Modern Languages at Strathclyde
At Strathclyde, Modern Languages are taught in a friendly environment where you’ll have the chance to become a fluent linguist, engage with other cultures and even study abroad as part of your degree.
With our flexible undergraduate BA programme, you can study French and/or Spanish alongside a variety of subjects including Economics, Education, English & Creative Writing, History, Hospitality & Tourism Management, Human Resource Management, Journalism, Law, Marketing, Mathematics, Politics & International Relations, Psychology and Social Policy.