This week our fabulous finalists become our fabulous graduates and, as well as congratulating them all on their achievements over the past few years, we also wanted to give you a sense of the range of plans they have for the months and years ahead. So, in no particular order, and with others to be added into the mix over the coming days …
Lauren, who’ll be graduating with a BA Hons in French with Spanish and Professional Education is about to start her probation year teaching French and Spanish in secondary schools. She’s due to find out where she’ll be teaching in the next couple of weeks and, after 5 years at university (and being the student for 20+ years!), is excited to start! And Ewan, who is graduating with a BA Hons in French and Spanish, and who spent time in Quebec during his studies (merci pour les photos!), plans to take a year out of education, and then to go to Montreal next year to study a masters in translation from English to French. He is looking into deferring the offer he has received until next year in order to be able to work and save some money before he goes over there.
Emma, who has just completed her BA Hons in International Management with European Languages and Society has just found out that she has been accepted on the British Council English Language Assistantship scheme for a placement in Spain. When she comes back, she’s thinking of going on to do a postgrad course in secondary teaching for languages. And Nela, who’ll also be graduating with a BA Hons in International Management with European Languages and Society is off to undertake a 7-month residential programme at the Isha Yoga Centre in India. She’ll be doing daily sadhana and volunteering in exchange, hopefully translating some of the Sadhguru’s teachings into French. As for Eden, who is graduating with a BA Hons in French, she’ll be working as a waitress at Taymouth Marina Resort for the next year to save up money for some Marine qualifications and then plans to work as a deckhand on superyachts in the Mediterranean, hopefully based in France.
Jannie has just finished her BA Hons in Psychology and a European Language with us is planning to head to Strathclyde Uni on the master’s for organizational and work psychology. Before then, this summer, she will be travelling, visiting her friends across Europe, and working back home in Denmark. And Beth, who will be graduating with a BA Hons in French and Spanish, has been accepted for the MA Translation and Cultures at Warwick for the coming academic year. Beth is waiting to see if she has been successful in getting a scholarship and, if she has, then she’ll be Warwick-bound! Until then, she’ll be working in an inn on Mull to earn money before moving down south.
Many, many thanks to all our soon-to-be graduates for having got back to us with all this information about their plans. We wish you all the very best for the future and have thoroughly enjoyed teaching you all throughout your degree! Enjoy your graduation ceremony and do keep in touch. And, if you happen to be reading this as a finalist and haven’t had a chance to get back to us yet, please do drop us an email and we’ll very gladly add your plans into the mix. Mainly, though, félicitations à toutes et à tous!!
One of the great things about this blog is that it gives us a means of keeping up, not only with what colleagues in French at Stirling are doing, but also with what our students and our graduates are up to. As we get closer and closer to this year’s graduations, we thought it’d be good to catch-up with some of our graduates from last year so, with no further ado…
Shannon studied for a BA Hons in French and Spanish at Stirling and as a 2022 graduate moved on to pursuing her PGDE in primary education: “I am now working full time in a nursery setting in Liverpool as the curriculum practitioner. And my languages have not been completely forgotten. My pre-schoolers enjoy having a Spanish lesson once a week and we may add French to their curriculum soon! Wishing this year’s graduates all the best in the future no matter how you do or what you do!” Sophie also graduated with a BA Hons in French and Spanish and, since graduating, has started another degree studying Theology and Christian Leadership: !I’ve loved using the skills I learnt at Stirling to help this degree and next year I have chosen to study New Testament Greek which makes me excited to be able to use my language skills again.”
Meanwhile David, who graduated with a BA Hons in French and History, spent time in the US after he graduated but has since returned to do an MSc in Heritage at Stirling, and is currently researching and writing his thesis: “You will also be happy to know I have been able to make use of my French skills I acquired at Stirling, in my capacity as a volunteer at the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders Museum. As a guide, not only can I assist French tourists, but behind the scenes I have also been able to translate material into French to help the Museums accreditation and be more welcoming to foreign tourists.” Our other David, who joined us as a mature student, and graduated with a BA Hons in French, explains that “after 7 years of re-education which concluded with four unbelievable years of involvement with French at the University of Stirling, I promised my wife and my three grandchildren that I would devote more time to them which I have done but that has not stopped me for continuing to learn and practice French.” In the year since graduation, David has kept on reading French books (including re-reading some he’d studied with us!), revising French grammar, listening to podcasts and regular news bulletins and trying to speak as much as he can through websites such as Language Exchange: “My appetite for learning has not waivered or reduced in any way. I have always had the will and motivation to continue although, I do miss being a student on campus and the camaraderie of my peers and being able to have the skills of our tutors to hand for advice when required.”
Lara, who completed her BA Hons in French and Spanish last June, has just finished working for a year as an English Language Assistant in a secondary school in Madrid with the British Council: “It’s been a very enriching experience and I plan on returning for a second year.” Ceinwen, having graduated with a BA Hons in French last year, has stayed on at Stirling for postgraduate studies on our MRes Humanities programme carrying on the research she did during her undergraduate degree and “When I’m not doing that I’m making full use of the Institut Français’ cinema programme in Edinburgh.”
Valentina, who graduated with a BA Hons in International Management with European Languages and Society, she has spent the past year working for Global Voices, our local translation and interpreting company, as a credit controller: “I call and email every day in French as I look after the debt for the French and Swiss market, as well as the Italian one. So, naturally my languages skills have improved, I now feel comfortable to speak on the phone to a native speaker which is great! I’ve also learnt all about chorus pro which is the public administration invoicing system in France!” And Muirne, who completed her BA Hons in Business Studies and French last year, has been doing an International Business Master’s here at Stirling this past year and is starting work on her dissertation now: “I’ve really been enjoying this programme and it has opened up lots of different routes I can take to start my career journey. I was also one of the programme reps for the course as I wanted to have a bit more responsibility and show more leadership. I have still been keeping up with my French as I think that will be a useful tool in the future for me. I have also been able to keep in touch with a French pen pal I made in 3rd year which has been helpful for practicing French.”
Sofia, who graduated with a BA Hons in French and Spanish last year, has almost finished her MA in South Asian Area Studies and is currently working on my dissertation, which is focusing on the legacies of trauma stemming from Partition and how this has affected the diasporic descendants of the Partition. Sofia was also recently accepted into a summer programme for Our Shared Cultural Heritage which is a programme that experiments with ways for museums and heritage organisations to work better for young people. Their focus is on the South Asian diaspora in the UK and young people in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh: “I’m not quite sure yet what the programme will entail but it will be interesting to look at heritage, culture, and of course language and to look at the Scottish South Asian community.” Vasiliki, having graduated with a BA Hons in Business Studies and French, moved to Madrid after graduation to do a Master’s in International Trade and Business: “Classes are finishing at the end of July, then I have to submit my thesis by mid-September, so in the meantime I am looking for an internship in the field of marketing or HR mostly, and I am really just looking across Europe, as I don’t want to limit myself. I would also be very much interested in moving back to the UK.”
And Morgan, who graduated with a BA Hons in International Politics and Languages, is currently in Belfast where she has just started writing her Master’s thesis exploring who is responsible for the deaths of displaced persons who drown while attempting to cross the Channel: “While I no longer directly study French, my knowledge of the language and the country have been particularly helpful when conducting research for my thesis. I work part-time as a hotel receptionist where I regularly get to talk with guests from French-speaking countries who always love to be able to chat in their native language.” Brendan, graduated with his BA Hons in French and Spanish last summer, and applied for a Masters in TESOL (Teaching English to Students of Other Languages) here at Stirling Uni and started that at the end of September. He hopes to complete that, including his final teaching portfolio/dissertation project by the end of August at the latest: “Afterwards, in September and October, my programme may offer an external placement in various countries, one of them being France, where I would be asked to observe and do some English teaching in a language school. However, it is not clear if that will materialise yet so right now I’m just taking each day at a time and focusing on what I have to do at present. If everything goes according to plan, I will officially graduate in November. My reasoning for doing this Masters was to prepare me to be able to teach English and get employment more easily when living in France and Spain in the future. If I’m to be completely honest with you all, this has been the most challenging year in my academic journey so far (even more so than third year of undergrad when everything was online due to covid, which says a lot!). However, I’m hopeful that it will bear some fruit in the not-too-distant future in my pursuit to become a languages teacher, which is my dream job.”
Pauline, who graduated with a BA Hons in International Politics and Languages, is just finishing up her Master’s degree in Applied European Governance and Policymaking: “I will have written and oral exams throughout June. I am doing last revisions for my master thesis on the economic impact of integration of migrants in Germany and I expect to graduate at the beginning of July. I am also applying for traineeships and jobs, mainly in Brussels, for EU policy positions, with hopes to not be unemployed in August. We shall see how that goes. I’ve also been involved with a new volunteer network (Generation Climate Europe) and have moved up to now being the Network and Outreach Lead, which I am quite excited about.”
And finally (for the moment… if you’re a 2022 French at Stirling graduate reading this and you haven’t been back in touch yet, there’s still time!) Fiammetta, who graduated in Modern Languages and Business Studies says that her life has completely changed since graduation in June 2022: “After graduating, I was unsure which path to follow for my career. I wasn’t happy with my life and I almost decided to go back to my home country. I started a job in Edinburgh as a customer service assistant in a travel agency. The team was great, however after only 3 months I realised that it wasn’t the job for me so I decided to apply for a job I thought I would never get.
In February I applied for Emirates cabin crew and a few days later I received an email asking me to go to one of the company’s assessment days. Being cabin crew for Emirates has always been on my mind but I always thought it would be really hard for me to get that job. The day after the interview I received the “golden call” and after less than a month I moved to Dubai. I have now been living in Dubai for more than 3 months. It was hard to leave my friends again (I had left my family and friends in my home country 6 years earlier) but it was one of the best decisions I ever made. Now I get to travel and visit so many countries and I get paid for it! I am in contact with so many cultures and during my flights I can use my language skills to interact with customers. The best advice I can give to the graduates of 2023 is to always pursue your dreams, even if it’s not easy or if you have to leave everything behind, it will always be worth it. Now I’m having the best time of my life!”
It’s always lovely to hear from our graduates and to learn where life has taken them after their time as undergraduates at Stirling. Thank you very, very much to all of our 2022 graduates who have been back in touch and who have contributed to this blog post (and to Joanna whose earlier post started off this particular catch-up) and do keep in touch and keep us posted on what you go on to do next. Bon été to you all!
It’s a sunny Friday afternoon and we’re edging closer and closer to the summer which seems like a good time to introduce you to another of our undergraduate students. Many of our students in French at Stirling join us having studied French until the end of their secondary school studies but we also welcome students onto our Beginners’ stream every year, students who have either never studied any French before or who have perhaps done 1 or 2 years but who usually haven’t studied it for a few years at least. For these students, the first two semesters focus on intensive language learning (alongside whatever other subjects they are studying), then in 3rd semester they begin to study French and Francophone cultures while continuing to build their language skills and confidence, and they merge with our Advanced stream from Semester 4 onwards. Today’s post is by Valeriia who has just finished the first 2 semesters in our Beginners’ stream:
“Bonjour tout le monde! My name is Valeriia, and I just completed my first year at the University of Stirling. I’m pursuing a Bachelor of Arts with Honours in International Management Studies with European Languages and Society. Let me tell you, choosing this programme has been the best decision of my life. In my 20 years, I have experienced many changes, just like everyone else. Among these changes, foreign languages have played a significant role. I first discovered French when I was in 5th grade. It caught the attention of my teachers, who noticed my interest in French culture and recommended that I start learning the language. Subsequently, I enrolled in an academic lyceum where I delved deep into English and French, participating in various Olympiads and scientific competitions throughout Ukraine. Everything seemed to be going smoothly, and I thought nothing could disrupt this harmony. However, German unexpectedly entered my life, diverting all my efforts and time to this new language. Consequently, I began to forget French since, as they say, “if you don’t use it, you lose it.”
In 2022, I made the decision to study at a university in Scotland. I had no doubt that Stirling was the perfect choice for me. When I discovered that the university offered the opportunity to study French and even spend a semester in a French-speaking country, I felt a rush of excitement. I once again fell in love with the French language, even after a long break. The native French-speaking teachers provide incredible assistance and support, whilst the university campus and the entire community continuously inspire and motivate me to strive for new knowledge. It’s almost like having a piece of France in Scotland. I’m extremely glad that the University of Stirling offers language learning opportunities for beginners, those looking to refresh their skills, and those who already have a strong foundation. But is there a limit? Personally, I strongly believe that perfection knows no bounds.
You know, they say that knowing at least one foreign language becomes second nature. If you were to ask me what the nature of the French language is, I would tell you that it varies for everyone. For some, it’s the language of love, for others, it’s the world of cinema, and for some, it’s the pages of timeless French classics or the pleasure of gastronomy. For me, it encompasses all of these aspects. In a nutshell, it is life itself. You come to realise that a foreign language is so is so intricately woven into your life that it becomes a part of who you are. So, French is a part of me.
Through personal experience, I have come to understand that even when life takes unexpected turns, it is important to hold onto what you love and what gives you strength. I look forward to the upcoming years as a student and rejoice in my progress and the progress of my ‘camarades’. We, like all students, have a lot of work ahead of us, with so much more to learn about the French language and culture. However, at the University of Stirling, we are never alone. In unity, there is strength!”
Many, many thanks to Valeriia for this great blog post and we hope the summer will offer many opportunities for you to continue to build your language skills so you’re ready for the language and culture combination that awaits in the autumn!
French at Stirling 
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