4814 SPRING NEWSLETTER 2024 MFL An Interview with Katie Katie is a past student who studied Spanish through to A Level. She is now a successful primary school teacher and talks about the impact of studying languages. What did you like about studying languages? Personally, I found studying languages to be incredibly rewarding. I found languages at GCSE had a different feel about them compared to studying them in KS3, all of my knowledge started fitting together that I had learned throughout the years and as the vocabulary became slightly more advanced, it became more relevant for real life conversations. How have languages helped you in your career? Studying Spanish at GCSE and A-Level encouraged me to progress to study Primary Education with specialism in MFL at Edge Hill University. I would argue that languages are a desirable qualification to have due to my experience in interviews and when speaking to employers. When applying for jobs, I was always asked about my background in languages and they were keen to know how I can implement this in practice. It opened up many doors and opportunities for me at university and when applying for jobs. Would you recommend continuing to study languages? I would highly recommend continuing to study languages. It has benefitted me in many ways, alongside supporting my career. Learning new languages enhanced my communication skills and opened doors to new opportunities, both personally and professionally. I have been able to visit Hispanic countries and interact with locals and dive deeper into their culture. If you could give yourself advice as a Year 9 student, what would it be? The advice I would give myself as a Year 9 student would be to embrace the challenge and step out of your comfort zone. This might mean joining new clubs, trying new things or being independent and not following the path your friends are taking. Most importantly, believe in yourself and your abilities - you have the potential to achieve whatever great things you dream of, with dedication and perseverance. I was convinced I wouldn’t be able to achieve my career aspiration of becoming a teacher, it seemed so far away and impossible. My past teachers would agree, I was a worrier and I would over think everything, I never believed anyone when they reassured me I could do it. Also, trust your gut instincts. I remember worrying over what options to pick in Year 9 and I kept changing my mind as I was constantly thinking ‘what if’. In the end, I chose my initial choices, and to this day I have no regrets. Follow us @tsc_mfl_dep
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