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About Language
You'll become
- TESOL Teacher
- Interpreter
- Translator
Average Salaries
Language workers may earn between $35,000 and $61,000 per year
You’ve got a love of words and culture and a desire to connect with people. Turn your interests into a career by studying a language course.
You’re curious, thoughtful, and love connecting with people. Hone your natural talents, find your own voice and build professional skills for the global workplace by studying a language course.
Whether you’re pursuing a career or seeking a new vocation, studying languages will allow you to explore your abilities and perspectives, learn the essential skills needed to thrive in the workplace, and develop your sense of yourself and identity.
In our language-driven and interconnected culture we’re communicating constantly, and businesses and organisations are urgently seeking skilled professionals who can cut through the noise, connect with consumers, and offer a new way of seeing the world. In a language course, you’ll build skills in communication, interpretation, language and analysis, and nurture your curiosities about the world in which we live.
If you want to make a career out of connecting with people, a language course is for you.
You may study a language course at a range of different levels, including as a certificate or diploma course, in a bachelor’s or master’s degree, as a post-graduate certificate or diploma course, or during postdoctoral studies. With a language qualification, you may choose to seek employment in a broad range of roles, including working in cultural studies and policy, journalism, translating, interpreting or language teaching.
If you love communicating and connecting with people, enjoy challenging yourself, and want to turn your curiosity about the world and its cultures into an exciting new career, consider studying a language course as your first step.
What do language graduates do?
Graduates of language courses may take on a wide range of roles. If you choose to work as a language teacher, you may perform tasks such as:
- Assessing students’ existing knowledge of a language, conducting initial tests and interviews, and grading students into classes;
- Assessing students’ difficulties;
- Designing, planning and preparing lessons, activities, exercises and games to assist with students’ learning of language concepts;
- Preparing lessons according to a set curriculum, including teaching grammar, vocabulary, pedagogy and language context;
- Designing, producing and adapting teaching materials for students;
- Assisting with language learning in a classroom setting, including explaining concepts, answering student questions and conducting exercises;
- Assigning and correcting homework and tests;
- Administering, marking and correcting tests; and
- Analysing, recording and reporting progress to students and other teachers.
If you choose to work in social and cultural policy development and analysis, you may perform tasks such as:
- Collating historical data by consulting information sources including historical indexes and catalogues, archives, court records, diaries, newspaper files and other materials;
- Organising, authenticating, evaluating and interpreting historical, political, social, anthropological and linguistic data;
- Undertaking historical and cultural research into human activity, and preparing and presenting research findings.
If you choose to work as a translator or interpreter, you may perform tasks such as:
- Translating written documents between languages;
- Providing simultaneous and consecutive verbal or signed renditions in another language;
- Rendering the meaning and feeling of what is said and signed into another language; and
- Studying original texts and transcripts of material to comprehend subject matter and translate them between languages.
Career Outcomes
Career Outcomes
You may also choose to work in cultural or social policy development, using the knowledge of diverse cultures you’ve gained from your language study to contribute to the development of cultural academia and policy.
You may also choose to seek employment in an industry where knowing multiple languages is an asset, including working as a journalist, migration agent, diplomat or foreign policy specialist.
After completing a language course, you’ll have the opportunity to work in a wide range of roles across multiple industries. Roles you may take on include:
Is language right for you?
You’ll enjoy studying a language course if you:
- Love words and communicating
- Enjoy learning
- Are interested in different cultures
- Are a creative thinker
- Can work independently
- Are curious about the world
- Are resilient
- Are disciplined
- Have excellent writing and communication skills
- Are empathetic
Job opportunities
Job opportunities exist for language course graduates in social and teaching roles.
The Australia Government’s Job Outlook states that approximately 10,100 people are currently employed in social and cultural professional roles in Australia. Employment opportunities in this field have been growing modestly over the past decade, and are predicted to continue rising to employ approximately 10,400 people by 2020.
While Job Outlook states that teaching English to speakers of other languages is a small profession with limited job opportunities, the field currently employs approximately 4,200 people in Australia. While the profession is likely to contract slightly in the next few years to employ approximately 3,700 people by 2020, jobs are available in many international markets for language teachers and professionals.
The British Government’s equivalent Prospects states that the majority of English teaching roles exist outside of native English-speaking countries, identifying opportunities in Japan, China, east Asia, the Middle East, parts of eastern Europe, Spain, Italy and Germany.
Average Salaries
After completing a language course, you may choose to work teaching English to speakers of different languages. As an English as an Additional Language teacher, you can expect to earn between $39,000 and $76,000 per year, with an annual average salary of approximately $72,000 per year.
If you choose to work as an interpreter, you may expect to earn between $35,000 and $61,000 per year, with an annual average salary of approximately $50,000. If you choose to work as a translator, you can expect to earn between $40,000 and $76,000 per year, with an annual average salary of approximately $61,000.