[The plane taking off.] Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking.
Hi, guys. Cześć, tu Asia Domagała, Twój kompas w świecie nauki języka angielskiego. Ta audycja ma pomóc Ci w rozwoju Twojego angielskiego oraz umiejętności słuchania ze zrozumieniem. Przy okazji poznasz także ciekawe informacje, nie tylko ze świata językowego. Odcinki przeznaczone są dla osób od poziomu B1 w górę i są w stu procentach po angielsku.
Let’s go.
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Welcome to episode number 4 of my English Compass podcast. And this time it’s going to be something related to English itself. And the question or the topic of the podcast today is: is it worth studying English or is it worth doing English studies, English philology? And I’ll try to answer the question, but probably, the answer is: “yes and no” or “it depends”.
Let me start by going back in time a little bit. If I could go back in time myself, I think I would again decide to study English studies. The only choice that I would make differently, the only thing I would do differently, would be studying something extra at the same time. Something like another language, perhaps, like, you know, you can learn the language from scratch sometimes if you study it, like, I don’t know, Thai or Vietnamese. I wouldn’t like to study Vietnamese or Thai, but I’m just giving you an example. It’s hard to learn. It’s hard to know.
Definitely, I would study something extra at the same time. Now, when I decided to study English I knew from the start to be honest that English is the one. English is the winner for me, for my career, for my academic career, for my English, and for my studies. I knew that the English studies in Poznań would be my top priority in terms of choice. Why English studies at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, not a different university? You know, my hometown is Darłowo, which is, you know, in the north of the country, it’s just by the seaside, it’s a stone’s throw from Koszalin, so Poznań is not a natural choice. There is Gdańsk, Szczecin, Toruń on the way. Bigger cities even closer, Bydgoszcz. But not Poznań. Well, the English the choice was very simple for me because AMU at the time, and still they do as well, have the best English studies in Poland. So I thought, okay, if I want to do something, let’s do it the best I can. I wanted to study there.
At that time when I applied, there were entrance exams obligatory, so they took 200 people who had the best high school final exam results. And those 200 people were invited for an oral interview in Poznań. It was July. It was scorching hot. I still remember that shock. You know, when you live your whole life by the seaside, you are used to, at least, you know, mild breeze in summer. You’re not used to 40 degrees in the shade in the middle of a concrete jungle, which the centre of Poznań is.
So I was completely shocked. It was a really, really hot summer. And I was also petrified, by the way, when I entered the building and I saw the people waiting on the corridor outside and waiting for their turn, because those people were browsing their notes. They had some books with them, notes and papers, and they were still talking about the history of England, English literature and everything related. Now, of course, I knew what could be the questions at this oral interview that’s at this entrance exam. It was, you know, everything related to English-speaking countries, including history and culture. But I knew that it would not be an exam as such, so I did not revise any, you know, dates or facts or you know, theories or anything.
I was a bundle of nerves because of those people. And, you know, sometimes ignorance is bliss. Thanks to that, I just was not as stressed as those people who were browsing their notes just five minutes before entering. I was a little bit concerned. But then it was my turn for the oral interview.
I was so, still so petrified that I cannot remember much. I cannot remember the faces of the committee. There is a chance that, you know, they were my teachers throughout the five years of studies, but I cannot remember that because I was so petrified. Luckily, I scored quite well. I got 16 points out of 20; 12 was the minimum threshold. So, there was like, absolutely no fear. So out of the 200 people, they accepted a 100. And that’s how I started studying English. And, it really was an excellent choice because, I knew it from the start. I knew that this is for me, that I’m good at it, and I want to explore it more. So, who is it good for?
I mean, who is English Studies good for, then? Well, three major things.
Firstly, it’s good for people who are passionate, passionate about English. And it’s essential because you have subjects that are so much more than just English itself. I mean so much more than just English vocabulary. English grammar and so on. English speaking practice and etc. You have such subjects and courses like History of English Literature, History of American Literature, Descriptive linguistics, history of English language. And Old English is like a totally different language. It has not much to do with current modern English. It’s more like Latin than English, but we still had to study it. You have subjects related to knowledge about English-speaking countries like, you know, the legal systems, the political systems and so on. There is also descriptive grammar, including syntax, which has nothing to do with the grammar you are familiar with.
It’s not like tenses or prepositions or articles. It’s so much more like until I actually learned what’s descriptive grammar about and what syntax is about, I was, you know, absolutely unaware of that as well. And syntax was, I think, the most difficult subject throughout the entire studies because it was so complex. But thanks to syntax, at least I know that every single sentence in English has an explanation. In theory. Like, there was always a rule standing behind why the sentence looks like that and not a different way, why this word is in this position and not in a different position. Why meaning can change if you change the position of a single word. Syntax was a challenge. but then it was very useful to understand everything behind how English language functions. My studies in Poznań were very challenging also in terms of the time I had to devote to the actual studying. It was about burning the midnight old oil quite often and having my nose in the books all the time. I learned much more on an everyday basis at my two first years at university than throughout my three years in high school. It was about everyday learning. Every week, there were little exams, quizzes and everything. If someone hadn’t learned regularly, they wouldn’t have been able to pass anything throughout the term. Not to mention the exams at the end of the term or at the end of the year. So it was a challenge.
If you are not passionate about English and everything related to it, if you’re not ready to, you know, embrace everything that’s there, it simply will be too difficult for you. An addition, an advantage, to, you know, the difficulty of English studies is that there is a lot of language practice as well.
So, including, phonetics, in my case, I know that not many universities across Poland have phonetics in the curriculum in their program. In my case, it was four hours of phonetics a week for two years. Can you imagine how much time that is like for two full years, four semesters, four hours a week? And it was really, really something extremely difficult because at the moment we entered the classroom on our first phonetics class, every person in this classroom, including myself, we thought that we could speak English, but then our phonetics teacher proved us otherwise immediately. Because of course, we could speak. I’m laughing, but the accent? Well, there was still a lot of room for improvement. And, in my case, it was about studying every single sound separately. We had to study every vowel, every consonant, and all the other aspects of phonetics. And if we hadn’t passed a single sound, we wouldn’t have been able to move on.
Not to mention that if we really haven’t, you know, if someone doesn’t master phonetics and if someone doesn’t master pronunciation, well, there is no chance they would pass practical oral exam at the end of the first year. It’s simply not possible. By the way, when it comes to phonetics and pronunciation, we could choose and it was in the very beginning of the first term, whether we want to learn British pronunciation or American pronunciation.
Well, myself of course. I chose the of the British one. But there were 50-50. There were five groups of British pronunciation and five groups of American pronunciation. So it was an even. But anyhow, it was very, very helpful. I don’t think it’s possible to learn an accent, correct pronunciation, in a different location.
Of course, you can find online courses, which are sometimes also excellent, but then I already had it as a package deal in my, English studies program. And, of course, by the way, studying English philology also enhances language proficiency. You know, our English became better. We started with a level C1, on the first year. So then we moved on from C1 to C2 and, you know, like it was it’s simply it when it’s about full proficiency, then it’s really a lot.
But of course, like studying English programs, studying English studies also fueled that. So, it’s not only about in, you know, theoretical descriptive grammar and pronunciation, but it’s also about, the language itself. So there was also a lot of language practice too. So, if you, if you are passionate, then English, studies is for you.
Secondly, English studies is for people who know what they want to do in the future. So, if they want to go to translation, research, literature, teaching and so on, then absolutely, yes. Green light. Totally. If you want to be a translator, then you have to study. If you do want to do research, you have to study and them do a PhD. By the way, there is a difference between translating and interpreting. I know that in Polish they are the same: “tłumaczenie”, but in English there is a difference. Of course, both activities interpreting and translating, you know, are about conversion of content from one language to another. But they differ in terms of method and purpose. Now, translation involves simply rendering written text from one language into another, while of course preserving the meaning, the style, the tone as much as possible. And I would say the purpose of translation is simply to produce very accurate or simply accurate and readable written text, such as books, articles, legal contracts, manuals, websites, or whatever there is. Interpreting, on the other hand, involves orally conveying spoken language from one language to another language in real time – that’s the big difference and, of course, the you know, the primary purpose of interpreting is to facilitate communication between individuals or groups. We speak different languages. And it’s like you have interpreters present, when there was some conversations, speeches, meetings or conferences and they help interactions flow smoothly and accurately. That’s the difference. And of course, both translation and interpreting require linguistics expertise. Also, which is equally important, cultural competence and communication skills. If you know what to do in your life, then definitely this is for you.
Number three, English Studies is good for someone who, who is an academic type of a person. So someone who wants to do research. Someone who wants to do a PhD. Now, probably my PhD story is a topic for another episode of a podcast, maybe one day I will find the courage to do that.
My story of doctoral studies is not the happiest one. Although there is a chance it will have a happy end. Like, I spent five years of doing doctoral studies at AMU. But then I, in a way, hit a brick wall in many different ways. I finished writing the PhD thesis, but I couldn’t defend, and it was like really fighting a losing battle.
At certain point, I simply threw in the towel, I gave up, and, I had to, I think, have a break. I somehow hit the rock bottom. But in the end, because my thesis was already written, a larger proportion of it was ready. I somehow, tried to be resourceful again, courageous in a way, to find a different solution.
I faced the music and, somehow, you know, I rose from the ashes, and I decided to look for a supervisor outside of Poland. I found one in Ireland, which was natural because my thesis, my doctoral dissertation is about Irish drama. Unfortunately, due to formal aspects, I couldn’t do it in Ireland. And, then I luckily found a supervisor in Spain.
And currently I’m on my third year of doctoral studies at a Spanish university in Tarragona. My supervisor is currently reading because I finished writing. I should finish everything. So also introducing some changes after his comments until the end of August. And then from September, the whole process of reviewing should start. So, I there is a chance I will defend this year, or maybe in the beginning of next year.
Please, keep fingers crossed because I even don’t want to admit, to you guys how many years it has already passed since I started my doctoral studies at AMU. Really, it’s unbelievable. So I truly hope for a happy ending. There is a really good chance that I will defend. But if you also are an academic type of a person, like I was, doing English studies is definitely for you. You cannot do it otherwise.
Now another question one should, ask is do you have to study English? Do you have to do English studies to teach English? And my answer is no. Of course, it’s good to have a degree because having a degree, you of course have the language background, you have certain knowledge already. But you also, if you studied to become an English teacher, you have all the, you know, the methodological background that is very, very, essential, to teach.
But there are also other ways to become a teacher of English and that through, a number of different certificates and programs. One of them would be CELTA, which is Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages or TEFL – Teaching English as a Foreign Language. Now both CELTA and TEFL are excellent. Now, if someone has a CELTA or, TEFL, I have no doubt, that they are good teachers. Because like those courses, they concentrate only on the aspect of teaching the language. Of course, you need to have a certain level of advancement already in English, right? C1 probably, if you don’t have C1, then you cannot teach. I mean, how could you? For me, it’s, it’s a little bit paradox or, impossible, I would say to do that. I know that some people do, having a B2 level. They teach English, but then I think you don’t have enough proficiency and experience in order to teach others. But but it’s just my personal opinion. But if someone has CELTA or TEFL or any other, recognized, and valuable certificate to teach English I know that they have all the background they need, including English language teaching methodology classes, lesson planning, classroom management, language analysis like feedback, like giving feedback, analyzing students’ progress, and so on. There are like different aspects of it. And I know that if someone passed CELTA or TEFL, they are already made teachers in my team.
By the way, at Angielski Kompas, we have teachers who have a degree in English language teaching, but we also have, teachers who have CELTA or TEFL, and they are excellent teachers as well. Because they have the practical knowledge and experience, which is sometimes very, very important.
Now another question. Where can you work after English studies? And the answer is: everywhere or everywhere you want. Of course, you know, education is an obvious choice, because, you know, like English studies graduates, they often pursue careers in education as teachers, lecturers, professors at even colleges, not only schools, but also universities and so on. And they, you know, they teach English as a second language, they teach literature, and so on. That’s a very obvious choice.
But you can also, work in publishing, which is a very wide area of expertise as well. Like, you can pursue a career in, publishing that involves such roles as, for example, editors, proofreaders, copywriters, content creators, literary agents. You know, it’s, it can be a job related to writing, editing, even communication skills. Not to mention writing a journalism, or for example, marketing or any kind of public service and government service. Anything related to content creation, as I mentioned already, like copywriting, but even social media manager, so why not? If you have good language skills, good communication skills, why not? Of course, translation and interpreting it, if you want to do either, then after studying English, it’s waiting there for you. You can also do something which is in between translation and interpretation, which is audio visual translation.
I have a close friend of mine, Agnieszka. We studied together. We have been friends since I can remember, and, she studied with me, of course, we studied together for five years, and then she did an extra postgraduate program in audio visual translation because it wasn’t a natural part of our studies, of our program. It wasn’t within the curriculum of our English studies program.
She studied audio visual translation. And at the moment, she is, skilled manager at MTV where she manages a team of people who manage subtitles for programs serious, and everything that is aired on TV. So that’s, that’s how it works. So, there is also job for you in entertainment. Why not? You know, like, every single film and series need subtitles. So that’s also job for translators, right?
And the last but not least, well, you can also work as a, you know, entrepreneur or simply a freelance teacher, freelance entrepreneur and so on. Now you can start your own business. You can offer different kinds of services. I know a lot of people that, not only teach, but also combine it with writing, editing or translating, you know, content creation like you can combine it. Why not?
So, as you can see, English Studies is not for everyone. but it’s definitely worth it if you are passionate, if you know what to do in life, and if you are an academic type of a person.
If you want to study English because you think it will, you know, help you achieve English proficiency, it can. But if you only care about proficiency, then English studies is not for you because English studies is so much more. And then it’s probably pointless for you to study English literature, descriptive grammar, and the history of English language.
So again, if I were to go back in time and make my decision again, probably I would still make the same decision. I would still again study English. Let me know guys, if you feel the same. If you could go back in time, would you again make the same career/ academic decision? Or perhaps you would decide something different?
Please let me know and I hope you enjoyed this podcast, and I’ll hope to see you. See you in inverted commas “again” in the next episode.
Cheers.
[Cabin-crew announcement for landing]