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