Modern Languages work experience?

Hi! I'm a year 12 student currently studying French, Spanish and English and am hoping to do Modern languages (Spanish and maybe Mandarin) with the prospects of becoming a translator and/or a teacher in the future. However, right now i'm trying to gather volunteer work and work experience before applying to university in Sept/Oct time but i'm really stuck on what kind of things would be good to get into higher unis (hoping to apply to Cambridge, Durham, Bath etc.)/ making myself stand out. Any advice or help people could give me would be much appreciated either from current language uni students or fellow linguistics, Thanks so much

Reply 1

rhixgreenwood

5

Original post by mads.rose358

Hi! I'm a year 12 student currently studying French, Spanish and English and am hoping to do Modern languages (Spanish and maybe Mandarin) with the prospects of becoming a translator and/or a teacher in the future. However, right now i'm trying to gather volunteer work and work experience before applying to university in Sept/Oct time but i'm really stuck on what kind of things would be good to get into higher unis (hoping to apply to Cambridge, Durham, Bath etc.)/ making myself stand out. Any advice or help people could give me would be much appreciated either from current language uni students or fellow linguistics, Thanks so much

hey, i done German for an a level and will be doing a languages degree this september. I hope to maybe become a teacher too so i contacted my old secondary school and spoke with my old languages teacher, who arranged work experience for me and now I go in every wednesday so its worth contacting your old school. if that fails, there is a government website which tells you what nearby schools you can get experience in and in what subjects :smile:

Reply 2

random_matt

20

You do not need any for university, the personal statement is simply a chance to tell them why you are interested in the course. Gaining work experience during the university summer breaks is the advise I would give you. A good idea if applicable is to reference a holiday you were on and tie it in to your personal statement.

Original post by mads.rose358

Hi! I'm a year 12 student currently studying French, Spanish and English and am hoping to do Modern languages (Spanish and maybe Mandarin) with the prospects of becoming a translator and/or a teacher in the future. However, right now i'm trying to gather volunteer work and work experience before applying to university in Sept/Oct time but i'm really stuck on what kind of things would be good to get into higher unis (hoping to apply to Cambridge, Durham, Bath etc.)/ making myself stand out. Any advice or help people could give me would be much appreciated either from current language uni students or fellow linguistics, Thanks so much

Hi,

Final-year Arabic student here! Generally speaking, language-related work experience can be hard to find, which is why many universities (like SOAS) don’t require it. Many of my classmates had zero formal experience before university. However, having some relevant experience could definitely help your application stand out.

One great option is tutoring—I personally tutored Arabic during college, and if you could do something similar for French or Spanish, that would be beneficial. Try reaching out to your previous school to see if you can assist younger students with language learning.

For competitive universities like Cambridge, I’d also highly recommend focusing on language-related super-curriculars—this means doing extra research or projects beyond your A-level syllabus. This could include:

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Reading academic articles on linguistics or translation studies.

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Listening to language-related podcasts (e.g., The Fluent Show, Lexicon Valley).

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Watching documentaries on multilingualism, translation, or language acquisition.

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Engaging in language exchanges or online courses (e.g., Duolingo, Tandem, Coursera).

This kind of engagement demonstrates academic curiosity and will strengthen your personal statement. Best of luck with your applications!

Marjan Karim
SOAS Student Rep

Reply 4

f15es1

11

One option you might want to look into is volunteering abroad. It doesn't have to be something fancy. Use websites like Workaway and Worldpackers. I'm a Cambridge French and Spanish third year and many peopple I know did au pairing before coming, and in my first holidays of first year I went and lived with an elderly french woman for 2 weeks helping her around the garden etc. It's a way to experience the culture whilst spending almost no money and it looks good on personal statement.

Modern Languages work experience?

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