A Degree in English Language

Hi,

After a little bit of input as i'm really confused.

I'm almost 29, a trained Actress and that's it. No other qualifications behind me and there is not alot of theatre work available at the moment.

It's really disheartening and a worry, particularly as I have a 4 year old child.

I feel the next step for me is a Degree, i've researched for months now and the only conclusion I can come to is that i'll only be happy working in Media/Radio/Television, if I can't act. Possibly also writing/broadcasting. I've also considered secondary school teaching but at this present time, my heart isn't in that.

At school, I loved English. It was the only subject that interested me (besides Drama) I love to read, write, research etc..

I'm thinking maybe a Degree in English language is for me. But what can I do with this degree? It may get to the point where i'd be happy to go into other careers besides media/broadcasting etc.. So any careers you can go into from this Degree, i'd love to hear about.

Any advice greatly appreciated. I'm so scared of it being a waste. Is it a decent Degree to have?

Reply 1

nonswimmer

doing a degree in english because you enjoyed it at school - especially over ten years after you left school - is a really thin reason to do a degree.

with an English degree you really have to spend the time at university developing your employability skills through internships, societies, student media etc, which may not be

if your major priority is getting a job then a more directly 'employable' degree might be wiser, but it'll be hard to decide what that should be when you are so unclear about your aspirations.

finally you might want to ask a mod to move this post as you posted in the postgraduate forum.

Reply 2

madamemerle

Original post by JOHNOR

Do you mean linguistics when you say English language? I don't think I know of any straight English Language BAs. An English degree is usually predominantly literature-based.

In any case, to attempt an answer to your question:
An English degree doesn't prepare you for any particular job. Having any degree (instead of none) will mean that you open up all those positions that require a degree for yourself, so, in that sense, you are expanding your job opportunities. Doing English should help you develop a bunch of skills that will be very useful in some jobs: analytical thinking, the ability to process and synthesise large quantities of complex information, clarity of expression and good communication etc. Though, as an adult with a career, especially one in the arts, you've probably developed many of those skills already. The critical/analytical side may be the main area you'd be learning in if you did an English degree, and if you're going to uni to develop those skills because you want to work somewhere that particularly prizes them (a thinktank, research, civil service etc) then you're probably better off doing a degree that also prepares you in other areas that those careers value (quantitative research etc...so, economics or another social science).

English is a pretty common degree for people who workin the sectors you mentioned to have done. Many of them will have done further, more vocational training, specific to their line of work, though. So, like nonswimmer said, look into whether you need the English degree, or the more vocational training to actually get your foot in the door in these professions.

Reply 3

Carnationlilyrose

Original post by madamemerle

Do you mean linguistics when you say English language? I don't think I know of any straight English Language BAs. An English degree is usually predominantly literature-based.

There are dozens of them:
http://search.ucas.com/search/providers?Vac=1&AvailableIn=2014&Query=english%20language&Page=1&flt9=1

Reply 4

madamemerle

Original post by carnationlilyrose

There are dozens of them:
http://search.ucas.com/search/providers?Vac=1&AvailableIn=2014&Query=english%20language&Page=1&flt9=1

I'm happy to stand corrected, but I don't think they're as common as you're making out: loads of those results are English language and lit degrees or English and foreign language degrees which have variable amounts of English language specific content. My BA is in English language and lit and we had one class on a language specific topic, the rest was literature. It's likely that lots of the courses in that list are lit heavy too.

Perhaps this is all irrelevant, since it sounded a bit like the OP was actually talking about English Lit, hence my question.

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 5

Doc.Daneeka

Just to put things into a little perspective: I see that you had a thread where you claimed that you would be interested in studying politics with the ambition of becoming a reporter or an MP, alternatively you said that you would consider psychology but didn't like the idea of having to train beyond the degree itself. Now you say you want to study English (I'm presuming you mean literature) with the view of getting into some form of media career.

Whatever you decide to do my advice is to see what employers are looking for from potential employees and then begin to see if you can fulfil that.

Reply 6

c471

As somebody who returned to study too many years of work, Ill be honest with you.
Unless you can go to a v. prestigious university (oxbridge or equal), an english degree to alleviate the lack of job opportunities is not a very safe move.

English doesnt give you any specific employment skills that any other social science wouldnt. So you have a qualification that isnt enough to get you into the industries which really need people (STEM mainly), and every position you are eligable for, you must compete with graduates from all other social sciences.

Most of the social sciences are there to broaden your mind, and develop you a bit before you get a job. Very few are directly applicable, even less a formal requirement.
As you have a specific problem, this is not the way forward IMO. You would learn nothing relevant really. You could come out the other end, having learnt nothing new to make you more employable, which is much more likely if you have lived in the real world, as things like teamwork and confidence have already been ticked off.

Maximise your options. A chemical engineer can become a journalist, but an english grad cant become a chemical engineer.

Reply 7

Carnationlilyrose

Original post by madamemerle

Well, my degree is joint lang and lit and it was half and half, but that was a generation ago. I don't think things have changed all that much in between, though. If a degree is labelled as English Language, then that is likely to be its main content. It is often called English Language and Linguistics to emphasise the content.