Name: Jenny Price
Degree: Master of Modern Languages (French & German)
Year of graduation: 2010
Current Job title: Work Placement Manager at European Training Services
Background
I was born in East Germany and came to Britain in August 1989, growing up bilingually German-English, mainly in Mid-Wales and Somerset. I went to a comprehensive school at the border and although I had learnt some Welsh I mainly focussed on French, taking part in an exchange and later helping out in younger classes and accompanying younger pupils on trips to France.
Why Manchester and why languages?
I remember talking to my mother about university as a young child and she had mentioned the University of Manchester so that must have stayed with me. I already knew the city well and the Master of Modern Languages was unique, allowing me to study both languages to Masters level in a 4-year course. In retrospect I now also realise that Manchester is the perfect place for anyone looking for an international environment and contacts to practise their language with. I became very involved in the international societies and mostly in the departmental German Society. The annual Palaver Festival across the road at the Contact Theatre was a wonderful occasion each year and I enjoyed watching the French play and taking part in the German one. If only both had been possible! I am also very grateful for the variety of modules available in the faculty, as it meant I was able to study courses as diverse as Turkish-German film and French fairytales and protest rap music!
Year abroad
My year abroad was actually slotted into my two summers, one in each target-language country. My first summer I split the time between a language course in beautiful Biarritz, in the French Basque country and voluntary work on an organic farm in Lorraine, followed by some independent travel through North France, Luxemburg and a week in Brussels. My second summer I spent two weeks in Switzerland, one visiting friends near Bern and the other at a Romanian folk music camp. The other participants all knew each other and it seems it was quite unexpected that a British girl should sign up for their course online but I can honestly say it was one of my best life experiences. I followed this with a 7-week internship at the Literaturhaus (Documentation centre for contemporary Austrian literature) in Vienna, a magnificent city and one I would have liked to stay in longer. By the end of my summer there I had adopted the Austrian rhythm of speech and made friends for life.
What next?
During my final year I was so busy with the German Society and my dissertation and final exams looming that I applied for a number of programmes instead of serious job-hunting. I believe my MML really helped in interviews as I was often asked whether I could cope in stressful situations and my intense undergraduate Masters was a very good example to use. Luckily enough I was accepted onto the Leonardo da Vinci Programme through European Training Services and went on a fully-funded work placement in Berlin. My internship was with the Voltaire Programm, a French-German youth exchange programme with its base in the Centre Français de Berlin. I extended and stayed for 5 months as I discovered that organising exchanges that are at no cost to the participant and encourage cultural understanding was something I enjoyed and felt strongly about.
Where are you now?
I now work for the very organisation that sent me abroad to Berlin, for European Training Services. I was offered a job with them on finishing my internship and chose to return to the UK to help send future participants on mobility programmes abroad. From September I will also be receiving groups from across Europe, arranging their work placements and accommodation here in Britain and supporting them throughout their stay.
Do you still use your languages?
I have to say my internship in Berlin was the most useful for speaking French and German on a daily basis. In my current job I work in English but use both languages to communicate with our partners in France and Germany. It turns out that this small city of Lichfield also has a large international community, not as large as Manchester of course but what with my colleagues being Italian, Slovakian, Dutch, German and French, I feel this leads on nicely from my degree and is a perfect setting.