The health of UK language study is lost in translation

Lost in translation? Quite. Even the stock photo to this article is wrong. It should read "Deutsch" (the language) and not "Deutsche" (the people).

Language courses have always evolved. Surrey University from its beginning adopted the 4year sandwich model for its joint language courses with the 3rd year on a work placement abroad which provided material for the 4th year dissertation written in the main language of the degree and often ended in job offers by the companies abroad. The language of instruction was the language to be studied and the graduates were highly proficient which made them very employable in a wide spectrum of jobs. Combinations with law, economics and area studies were particularly successful. I am sure things will bounce back and language centres will have a role to play.

This may be a 'utlitarian' comment and below the intellect of the professor but there is a real reason why modern language graduates in French etc are declining and that is because the graduates in those subjects are not all that employable these days.