Vol/51 No/2 2012APRIL/MAYTheLinguist25FEATURESand talk about the many and varied careersthey can go into with language skills. Recently I have been working on a projectwith the British Academy and the UniversityCouncil of Modern Languages, who need toprove the value of the year abroad in orderto retain government funding. I analysedhundreds of case studies, written bygraduates who studied, worked and taughtabroad during their degree, about how theexperience has affected their lives andcareers. This inspiring project will also make iteasier for me to help students with theircareer plans in future.British workers take only five percent of thejobs in the European Parliament andCommission, even though 12 percent of theEU population lives in the UK. It seems to methat the decline in the study of languages atuniversity has come about because ofmisconceptions about the difficulty andpurpose of a modern language degree, withits 'scary, expensive' year abroad. I believe that modern language degreeswould be more appealing if students wereinformed of the innumerable benefits of ayear abroad; the funding available to them;the value of doing a four-year degree; theextensive range of careers open to them; howmuch employers love year abroad graduates;and the existence of support networks such asours - and that this would help to reverse thedecline in language study in higher education.The year abroad introduces young peopleto new cultures, forcing them to adopt aforeign way of life and giving them aninvaluable understanding of humanity from adifferent viewpoint. It opens up opportunitieson the world stage. Graduates are less afraidto follow an international career path andmore inclined to bring in internationalbusiness for their future employers, bringingthe world closer together.TYA enables students to prepare for livingabroad for the first time; to cope with foreignbureaucracy, the culture shock andhomesickness; to find a safe and affordableplace to live, set up a foreign bank accountand socialise with locals. In the future, I wantthe site to encourage students across the UKto study overseas during their degree, toshow them how small the world really is, andhow they can be the bridge betweencountries by speaking foreign languages andunderstanding other cultures and customs. The site will be filled with inspiring,attainable linguistic career case studies andgraduate opportunities, it will introduceinnovative products and services to make iteasier to move abroad for the first time, andit will offer a networking platform forinternational students to pass on their adviceand the benefit of their experience. The aimis to force the UK to accept the importanceof modern languages and, above all, to turn studying abroad from an option into arite of passage.UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY(L-r from far left ) TYA founderLizzie Fane; one of the site's bloggers,Charlotte Evans (l), in Córdobaduring the third year of her Frenchand Hispanic Studies degree; Lizzie's drawing class in Florenceeye-catching, student-oriented poster andpostcard designs to distribute at universities. We began a monthly newsletter with itemsrelating to each stage of the academic year,encouraging feedback on new ideas andpromoting competitions with year abroad-related prizes, including city guides andvouchers. However, we needed a moredependable business model than advertisingand sponsorship, so I approached aninternational insurer with the idea of creatinga product specifically designed for yearabroad students. A couple of students hadmentioned being unhappy with the traveland emergency medical insurance coveravailable to them, as they viewed themselvesas a different risk from Gap Year students,who are continually travelling with only abackpack of belongings. Over the following year we collaboratedon a new site, YearAbroadInsurance.com,which launched last summer, and which wenow promote on TYA. There are many otherareas in which we hope to develop newproducts. Our new jobs board is launchingsoon and we have the support of EU Careers,so we might be able to begin by offeringplacements in Brussels!Inspiring workMy daily activities at TYA are never the sametwo days in a row. I respond to emails andupdate our social media channels, I createadverts and designs for the right-handcolumn, I upload articles written by our users,and I write blog posts about languages, traveland year abroad-related issues. Universitiesinvite me to speak at their Study Abroad fairsand pre-departure talks so that I can tellstudents what an incredible opportunity it is,Surprisingly, getting thesupport of universitieswas one of the mostdifficult aspects ofstarting the business

26 TheLinguistAPRIL/MAYwww.iol.org.ukFEATURESSocial media can boost your career and help you to keepup with changes in your field, says Marta StelmaszakWide and free access to information is one ofthe most important benefits of social media.thanks to the user-generated format and thefact that messages are published instantly,knowledge is distributed much faster andmore widely than with traditional methods. Wecan access almost boundless information onlanguages from all over the world, and get intouch with professionals in our fields who arewilling to share their professional experience,which is particularly important for the manylinguists who live in professional solitude. As a marketing tool, social media can helpyou to get noticed. No other marketingstrategy enables such a thorough promotionof your services for no financial cost. You mayhappen to connect with someone online whoneeds their texts translated or a speech writtenin your languages; and jobs are increasinglycirculated on social media platforms. twitter allows you to search for tweets onthe topics you are interested in and is a greatway to keep up-to-date with developments inyour field, as 'tweeters' often share news fromsmall or regional publications that you mightotherwise miss. this micro-blogging platformenables you to follow professional linguistsfrom anywhere in the world, gain feedback onideas and get simple answers to questions inreal time. Language-related exchanges i havefollowed recently covered experiences withcAt tools and the translation of '?'. if you are unsure where to start, you couldtry groups such as @LinguaGreca/translation-languages and @translatetrad/translators-and-writers, both of which have about 460members. Using keywords will help you to findpopular tweeters in your area of interest: type'linguist' in the search box, for example, andyou will find Linguist List (@linguistlist), BenZimmer of the Visual thesaurus (@bgzimmer),and linguist Lynne Murphy (@lynneguist). hashtags are another way of findingusefulcontent. to identify updates with a particularsubject, event or person, tweeters include ahashtag followed by the relevant word orcode, for example #xl8 (meaning '#translate'),#l10n ('localisation') and #translation; formore see http://translationbiz.wordpress.com/2011/05/26/short-report-what-twitter-h. With about 200 million users, twitter stilllags behind Facebook. the world's mostpopular social media site, it has more than 800 million users and around 3 million pages,allowing you to browse for people linked toyou by common interests, join groups, followpages and add specialists in your field as'friends'. Facebook groups can be valuableplatforms for discussion and networking. it is simple to set your privacy settings toscreen who has access to your Facebookpages and switch off the most interactivefeatures, such as the 'wall', on which peoplecan write messages. You can make contentavailable to select groups only (eg, 'family','colleagues', 'potential clients'), which isadvisable if you are using the site for business. For linguists, the most relevant Facebookpages are created by other languagespecialists and language service providers,and you can often add your own content tothese pages. When you 'like' a page itsupdates appear on your home page.proz.com runs an interesting Facebook page,with almost 6,500 followers; interpreting forEurope has more than 17,000. For a purely professional platform thatfocuses on your career, try Linkedin, whichallows you to upload your cV to your userprofile. With more than 120 million members,it is all about making connections withprospective clients and helpful colleagues.Building up a network takes time, but it isworth the effort. You not only have access toyour direct contacts but you can also ask to beintroduced to their contacts (+1), and even tocontacts who are further removed (+2 and +3).Joining a professional Linkedin group allowsyou to enter various forums and can improveyour professional standing, demonstratingyour expertise and interest in a particular field.Users also share interesting articles and set upinformative discussions. Among the mostactive groups are English Language Servicesprofessionals, the Freelance translatorsLounge, professional translators andinterpreters, and Writing for translation.About 2 million companies have Linkedinprofiles, making it a great way of approachingcompanies and getting introduced to the rightpeople. these profiles enable companies topost relevant updates in their fields, and allowusers to follow their activities and browse forjob vacancies. Well-known businesses, such asLingo24 and thebigword, list their employeeson the platform. You never can tell who mightneed your services. At your fingertips© iStockphoto