Linguistics students: diverse job opportunities and broad career advancement prospects.

In recent years, the field of Linguistics has increasingly developed in the direction of enhancing content with high practical applications, thus attracting the attention of a large number of students.

Graduates in Linguistics can quickly integrate into the domestic and international job market in various fields such as: working as editors at news agencies and publishing houses; screenwriters at film and television production companies; content producers; conducting linguistic research at language research institutes; teaching linguistics, Vietnamese language, and Vietnamese culture from secondary to university levels at educational institutions in Vietnam and abroad…

What will you learn in a linguistics program?

In an interview with a reporter from the Vietnam Education Online Magazine, Associate Professor, Dr. Trinh Cam Lan, Head of the Linguistics Department, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities (Vietnam National University, Hanoi), stated that the Linguistics Department is one of the oldest departments at the university. In recent years, the department's training program has been adjusted towards applied and interdisciplinary approaches to meet the practical needs of society. As a result, the percentage of graduates finding employment relevant to their specialization within one year of graduation consistently exceeds 80%.

According to the annual training regulations, training programs are allowed to be changed or adjusted by 10-15%. Therefore, the school has included many applied subjects in the curriculum such as: Vietnamese linguistics in teaching Vietnamese in schools, methods of teaching Vietnamese to foreigners to equip students with the skills to teach Vietnamese to foreigners; Vietnamese linguistics in editing and publishing, Linguistics and communication; Journalistic language, Publishing language…

Associate Professor, Dr. Trinh Cam Lan, Head of the Department of Linguistics, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi. Photo: NTCC

“The current scope of application of Linguistics is expanding into entirely new fields. The Department of Linguistics is finalizing procedures to open two specialized majors: Therapeutic Linguistics and Computational Linguistics, meeting the urgent needs of society today and creating more exciting job opportunities for Linguistics graduates,” Associate Professor, Dr. Trinh Cam Lan further informed.

Linguistics is now also offered at several other universities. According to Associate Professor, Dr. Le Thi Lan Anh - Head of the Department of Vietnamese Language and Culture, School of Foreign Languages ​​and Tourism ( thuộc Hanoi University of Industry), students in the Linguistics program at the university will study general education knowledge in political theory, social sciences and humanities, foreign languages, physical education, national defense and security education, and foundational knowledge in the field, specialization, and sub-specialization of Linguistics.
"In particular, cutting-edge sciences such as artificial intelligence and natural language processing greatly rely on the role of Linguistics and the collaboration between Linguistics and Information Technology. Currently, some universities in Vietnam are also following this training direction," Dr. Lan Anh also stated, adding that the inevitable trend is to open more majors related to computer languages.

Diverse job positions and high opportunities for career advancement.

According to Associate Professor, Dr. Le Thi Lan Anh, graduates in Linguistics have many opportunities for career advancement in various fields. The starting salary for a Linguistics graduate is from 10 million VND or even higher when working in agencies/businesses that apply linguistics.

Students in this field can gain work experience to become editors-in-chief of publishing houses, heads of content editing departments at newspapers and television stations; experts, research team leaders, directors of natural language processing centers, speech therapists, etc.; pursue master's or doctoral degrees in Linguistics to become senior experts/lecturers or senior lecturers in research institutes or training institutions specializing in linguistics.

Discussing this issue, according to Associate Professor Dr. Trinh Cam Lan, graduates of the Linguistics program at VNU-USSH can find diverse job opportunities in various fields, such as: research in linguistics and Vietnamese linguistics at research institutes; teaching linguistics, Vietnamese linguistics, literature, Vietnamese language and culture from secondary to university levels; working as reporters, editors, content producers at newspapers and publishing houses; or working in speech therapy.
 

Many former students of the Faculty of Linguistics at VNU-USSH are currently working at news agencies and media outlets throughout the country.

In recent times, the integration of Linguistics with other disciplines such as Journalism, Psychology, Anthropology, and Computer Science has opened up many prospects. Among these, Therapeutic Linguistics is particularly noteworthy.

In fact, the Rehabilitation Departments of the National Children's Hospital and Bach Mai Hospital are severely lacking in this field. Therefore, many former students of the Department, after completing additional training courses in therapy, have become experts in the field of speech therapy.

Sharing information about the support activities related to student internships and practical experience in the training program, Associate Professor Trinh Cam Lan said that each cohort of students has two internship periods.

Currently, the Department of Linguistics has partnerships with many universities in countries such as France, the United States, Australia, Japan, etc. Therefore, in the first internship period, students have the opportunity to travel to these countries, and in the second internship period, students can intern at establishments such as newspaper offices and publishing houses.
In addition, the school has a Center for Applied Linguistics and Vietnamese Linguistics that always provides opportunities for experiential research and teaching activities.

Trinh Phuong Uyen, a student from the K66 cohort of the Faculty of Linguistics, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi, stated that she decided to pursue a degree in Linguistics at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities because she felt a special fondness for languages ​​and was curious about the formation, development, and approach to languages, from Vietnamese to other foreign languages ​​around the world. Therefore, she chose the Faculty of Linguistics at the University.

Furthermore, accessing the field of Linguistics, especially when studying in depth, can be challenging if the student lacks proficiency in related foreign languages ​​such as Chinese or English.

"The school's learning environment is very diverse. After three years of studying and living at the school, I have participated in and achieved success in several activities such as: receiving a school-level scholarship for two semesters: semester 1 of 2021-2022 and semester 2 of 2022-2023; Head of the Linguistics Faculty Student Union; Deputy Secretary of the Linguistics Faculty Youth Union; Head of the K66 Class Student Association; Head of the Linguistics Faculty Communications Committee...", Uyen added.
 

Students in the Linguistics Department at VNU-USSH can participate in many extracurricular activities and have numerous opportunities for study abroad exchanges.

To achieve good results in her studies and extracurricular activities, Uyen said that delving deeper into the field of Linguistics was very interesting, giving her more in-depth knowledge about the Vietnamese language, such as its history, dialects, minority languages, and the practical applications of the field... things that she would almost certainly not have had access to or know if she weren't a student of the Faculty.

Regarding your experience during your studies at school, you should learn how to organize and manage your time effectively so that you can balance studying, participating in community activities, and working to earn extra income and gain social experience.

Regarding your learning experience, you should diligently read textbooks, course materials, pay attention to lectures in class, and take systematic notes of what you have learned. For content you are unsure about or have questions about, don't hesitate to ask your lecturers or senior students so that you can learn better.

Regarding career aspirations after graduation, Uyen shared that job opportunities for students of the Linguistics Department at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities are very broad. Personally, after graduation, she plans to work in the field of media – an interdisciplinary direction within the Department.