Jobs that use a Modern Foreign Language (Year 9)

A modern foreign language opens doors to a surprising range of careers - from translating and interpreting to international business, the diplomatic service, journalism, marketing, and aviation. This lesson plan will help you to show Year 9 students where a language can take them.

This lesson is designed to be delivered in 30 minutes as a teacher-led classroom activity.

This activity supports the following frameworks:

  • Gatsby Benchmark 4

This activity is suitable for Year 9 and features careers linked to the following subjects:

  • Modern Foreign Languages

This is one of three lesson plans designed for Year 9 Modern Foreign Languages teachers:

These lesson plans will help you show students how learning a language connects to their future careers.

We recommend using this lesson plan at the very beginning of Year 9. When students understand how the language they're learning relates to their futures, they will be more motivated, more curious, and less likely to ask "why are we learning this?"

Learning objectives

  • Students will understand that a modern foreign language is used in a wide range of jobs.
  • Students will be able to explain how a language is used in 2-3 specific jobs.

Before the lesson

  • You will need a computer connected to the internet and a classroom screen.
  • Open the Jobs that use a Modern Foreign Language page and have it ready on the screen.
  • Review the list of jobs that use a language. Pick 2-3 jobs you think will surprise your students.
  • View the detailed career page for those jobs so that you know what's there before the class starts.

During the lesson

1. What jobs use a language? (5 minutes)

  • Ask the class to suggest jobs that use a modern foreign language and why.
  • Write the suggestions on the board and highlight any patterns.

2. Exploring jobs that use a language (15 minutes)

  • Bring up the Jobs that use a Modern Foreign Language page on the classroom screen.
  • Scroll through the list of jobs to find ones that students didn't suggest.
    • Discuss the short description for each job.
    • Discuss how a language is used in each job.
  • Click on a few of the jobs to show the full description.
    • Discuss what that job involves day-to-day.
    • Discuss how other subjects are used in that job.

3. Making it personal (10 minutes)

  • Ask students to pick one job from today's lesson that interested them most.
  • Go round the class, asking each student to name their job and explain why it caught their attention.
  • Close by reminding students that a modern foreign language opens doors to many careers, not just the obvious ones.

After the lesson