Careers in language are varied and very fulfilling to people who love
to learn language and understand where it comes from. Some fields enable
you to help people who have difficulty speaking or suffer from impediments
to normal speech. Others involve an in depth study of language itself
and focuses on how language is made and used in various societies. Most
of the careers that come from a language degree teach important research
and writing skills and teach you to communicate in the most effective
possible way.
Speech-Language Pathologist
A speech-language pathologist uses the training from a language degree
program to handle the assessment, diagnosis and treatment of people who
have disabilities related to communication. They may work within a hospital
facility on a team of medical and speech practitioners. Speech-language
pathologists are also found in schools, health centers, private medical
practices and nursing homes. Virtually anyone can have a speech or language
related problem so it is typically easy to find someone who can handle
these issues. In addition to speech related issues, speech-language pathologists
tend to be certified to handle hearing disorders and prescribe hearing
aids. Their skills and understanding of how speech is made allows them
to better treat their patients and serve as consultants for industries
that are researching hearing loss. A speech-language pathologist’s
median salary is $47,000 per year.
Linguist
A linguist works to understand the structure of language through grammar,
structure and semantics. Rather than simply understanding how people use
language to communicate with one another, linguists use the skills they
learned in a language degree program to delve into the language’s
origin, context and evolution of usage. Language serves its own function
which serves the social nature of people so some linguists focus on how
language affects interpersonal relationships and how people perceive one
another. A linguist can earn around $48,000 per year.
Employee Language Trainer, ESL
An employee language trainer for ESL helps integrate foreign employees
into the workplace environment. Their function tends to be on a higher
level than teaching basic English. It is often on the level of business
professionals who wish to reduce the sound of their accent, learn proper
grammar or better understand business language. An English language trainer
earns about $50,000 per year.
