Choosing a career in today’s world of modern education and professionalism has become extremely difficult as the horizon of opportunities present wide-ranging courses. So the moment one is in Standard VIII, students begin contemplating on the various opportunities available and decide upon a few of them and zero down at one special course they are really interested in. Unless very specific about their choice, most of them start thinking, “Will I do well in this or that?”
Like in science and engineering, languages have always provided a horizon of opportunities for study and professional occupation both in the past and in the present today. Even science and engineering require effective communicative aspect of languages without which one would certainly miss out on clarity.
In today’s world of opportunities, use of languages has grown in enormity and dimensions. I thought it would be best if I could classify a few of them here under this MS title and make it useful for its valued readers.
Positions in Teaching Languages - This is one of the age old professions for a linguist or a person who is interested in languages and specializes in the field. Undoubtedly, has its importance both in societal and financial (matter of choice) aspects.
Writing - This may not be very lucrative field, but definitely carries its value in society and intellectual profoundness.
Translators – This is a specialized field today, requiring a particular communicative writing skill and the ability to express in some or several languages. The translator requires to have a certain amount of command over the languages one translates into, of course, the command of the language being limited to the area (subject) of translation. Here again, one has several choices beginning from foreign and Indian languages, to dialectic and regional usage of languages. This field has a lot of money, if the skill is put to its best use.
Interpreters – Another specialized field that has a lot of money and requires certain amount of oral communicative skill in the languages and instant mental translation ability in a person. It has a lot of scope in consulates, conferences, seminars, business delegations etc. One just needs to think of any International linkages and you would definitely need an interpreter.
Specialized applications of Languages - Linguistics, known as the science of languages has spread its horizon into the medical field, where you have socio-linguistics, psycho-linguistics and speech therapy. In these fields one would need a basic scientific background to specialize. There is lot of money in this today.
BPO Centres – Here language seems to be playing a very important role in communications and effective commercial operations. This is where one needs to be aware of the regional and dialectic use of a language – for example US English and British English and so on and so forth.
Computational linguistics – Machine Translation and Artificial Intelligence - This field has been widely researched upon where man wants to mechanize his communication skills, totally in contrast to the limitations of language and translation. Another, fast developing field having various centers of research all over the world. Lexicography is also another important language specialization and today it is developing by leaps and bounds.
There are so many I think it would be difficult for me to put all of them in here, because it would make my write-up too long and I would end up boring the MS forum. I prefer to broadly put them across and leave the rest for readers to think about the various opportunities given by languages today.
PS – Not trying to sell or market anything here, but then thought it best to bring it to the notice of readers.