Students from Meadowhead School were given a taster of life in the language industry with a visit to TransAction last week.
The visit is part of the the Business Language Champions programme, which helps schools and businesses to work together through languages to equip young people with the international communication and employability skills they will need for their future careers.
The students, who are studying for an NVQ in Business Spanish, were given a short presentation about the language industry before being thrown in at the deep end to try their own Spanish-English translation of a business document. The students worked together using the latest translation technologies and their own linguistic expertise to translate a letter from the owner of an exotic pet shop looking to change his supplier of exotic animals. All the students mentioned that this was their favourite part of the visit.
Foreign language skills, like those the Meadowhead students are developing, have been shown to increase the employability, mobility and competitiveness of a workforce, as well as providing invaluable softer skills. However, GCSE uptake to modern foreign languages remains low, and at university level language departments have been among the first to feel the effects of cuts to academic funding.
This makes the work of the Business Language Champions programme all the more important in demonstrating to young people that languages offer them a path to employment and a successful and fulfilling future.
TransAction has been involved with Business Language Champions programme for several years, with Director Daniel Collis stating that “We are proud to promote languages in Sheffield, and to show our young people that learning a language is a practical as well as enjoyable skill to develop. Translation and Interpreting are direct career paths offered by languages, but speaking another language is an incredibly useful skill regardless of the industry you are in.”
To discuss your translation needs, or for a free quote, contact TransAction.
