In November our Year 9 MFL dual linguists (those studying both German and Spanish) welcomed Sonja Bernhard, The University of Manchester School Outreach Officer, who discussed with them the importance of learning languages and what careers that could lead to in the future.

Sonja is originally from Munich, Germany and shared her own experiences of learning languages as well as telling us all about the languages offered at university. The students asked lots of thoughtful questions about their future in language learning and the careers they might use them for.

Sonja talked about all the businesses who value language skills, as well as the 'soft skills' our students are developing whilst learning languages.
The group learned that 75% of the world's population speaks no English at all and that only 6% of UK residents consider themselves to have skills in more than one foreign language. Sonja explained that this puts our dual linguist groups in a strong position in terms of their future prospects in global businesses. Of course, the vast majority of CHS students will take a language to GCSE, adding to the skills they can offer employers.

A huge thank you to Sonja for coming to talk to our students and to MFL teacher, Mrs Blamires, for providing this great opportunity.