YOUNG people from Beath High School had the opportunity to engage with local businesses at the University of Dundee on Wednesday.

S3 and S4 students from Beath and Madras College joined 140 learners from schools across Tayside and Fife to hear from a range of business leaders who view language skills as key to the growth and success of their company.

The Business Brunch demonstrated the relevance of language skills in a work context and aimed to encourage pupils to continue with their language studies into the senior phase of their secondary education, and beyond school.

A teacher attending said: “The event was very interesting and demonstrated to pupils how languages are used in the workplace.

"The presentation, from Outplay Entertainment, showed that there are more opportunities for linguists in the games industry than we thought, and illustrated another field that uses languages.”

One of the young people added to this and commented: “I learned lot about how languages are valuable in the world and that learning a second language is of increasing importance.”

Professor Karl Leydecker, Vice-Principal (Learning & Teaching) at University of Dundee, stated in the plenary: “Languages give you that extra something, not just for your job but for all areas in life.

"When the European students attend our Enterprise Gym, we see that they have the confidence to take a challenge on. Everyone is looking out to the world. It's never too late to pick up a language.”

The event was organised by SCILT, Scotland’s National Centre for Languages in partnership with the University Council for Modern Languages (UCML) Scotland. Companies attending included Volpa and Valentine International Business Connections LLP.

Fhiona Fisher, Director of SCILT said: “Events such as these are a really important way of providing young people with high quality careers advice delivered by the business people themselves and of demonstrating to them the value of language skills in our increasingly globalised world”.

Marion Spöring, University of Dundee and Chair of UCML Scotland, said: “It was great to see the enthusiasm and feel the buzz of over a hundred pupils who were finding out about the many exciting ways languages open up employment opportunities in local and global businesses. From creative and heritage industries, computer gaming and worldwide marketing – there are breakthroughs to be made and multilingual people are the key for success in business.”

Meaningful employer engagement and providing relevant careers advice are both key recommendations of Scotland’s Youth Employment Strategy, “Developing the young workforce”. This Business Brunch supported these aims by giving young people the opportunity to ask questions and find out more about the role of languages in the business world.

This collaboration between schools and businesses supported Scotland’s International Policy to equip young people with international communication and employability skills that they will need in our increasingly globalised society and economy.