Helen Distel, Managing Director at The Language Company International Ltd, was enthused by the number of emails and questions she received after visiting Nottingham Girls High School recently to speak to students about the importance of languages in the workplace.

The girls will soon be making their GCSE choices and Helen’s visit was designed to encourage them to think about their future careers and how language skills could benefit their progress.  Helen also spoke about her own personal route into language training for business and what it takes to run your own company.

In the manor of "The Apprentice" students then had to develop a product for a specific market and launch it, by considering the implications and how to overcome the barriers of selling to overseas markets.

Helen was really pleased with the interest shown by the girls, she said:

"The girls were so mature in their questions and amazingly innovative at just 13 years of age, I was very impressed.

I have already had emails about language learning and what opportunities languages may open up to them in the future. I think it was refreshing for them to hear from someone who had a taken an entrepreneurial different route and who was using languages in the world of work and not just in the classroom."

For information on how you can get involved with similar projects in the East Midlands please contact Sally Fagan