Briefly -- issue #4

Demand Surges for Multilinguals: It says so right here in Forbes

In its first sentence, a Forbes report about the rosy job-market prospects facing language learners breaks the mold for language majors: “Learning a new language is not a skill reserved for translators.” The October 2023 article draws on several studies including a survey of domestic US employers (N=1200) conducted in 2019 by ACTFL, a survey which yields a much different picture of US society and job markets than the one held by many college provosts and trustees: 9 out of 10 employers reported relying on employees who speak more than English; over half expected their language needs to increase over the coming five years (that would be about now); nearly half used employee language skills for domestic business; a third reported multilingual staffing needs and a quarter claimed to have missed out on business opportunities for lack of language skills.

An applied linguistics expert interviewed for the article cited increased job offers, more likely travel for work, and greater responsibility as pluses for candidates with second language skills. But what if your second language is not French or Spanish? Better yet, the linguistic edge is even clearer for speakers of languages not spoken by everyone. A European study demonstrated an earnings gap in favor of multilingual speakers, a gap that was wider if the second language was something other than English.

The news is just as good for students who do want to go into translation/interpretation; the US Department of Labor is expecting significant increases in the demand for interpreters.

IFE now in Marseille, but where exactly?

As a tenant IFE can be a bit demanding. Not that it needs marble staircases or corner office suites, but preference runs to landlords that are themselves not-for-profits or schools or in general serving a good cause. Mostly it is attentive to the milieu where its students spend a good portion of their first weeks and the fauna.

With teachers, syllabi, partners and pedagogical plans all in place for its new program in Marseille, the next question for IFE was where exactly would all that be centered? The search for a partner/lodger active in social change, climate or culture led to LICA (Laboratory for Collective and Artificial Intelligence), a “research-action” lab focused on grassroots efforts at climate and societal change, and in particular to LICA's campus, a leafy acre-and-a-half tract in central Marseille's Chutes-Lavie neighborhood. This spot is home to LICA's Tiers-Lab des Transitions (roughly: “life-lab for alternative transitions”), a beehive of actions, initiatives and not-for-profits focused on LICA's themes. Housing IFE office and classes here means students will cross paths with young people engaged in meaningful projects -- a front-row exposure to dynamics of change in French and Mediterranean society. More than that, the accord signed with LICA foresees volunteer options, co-sponsored events and other joint endeavors. The Chutes-Lavie quarter is central, easily accessible by public transportation, tranquil, diverse. IFE feels right at home at the Tiers-Lab in Marseill