Language skills don’t just provide a means of communicating with people from other countries and cultures; they also open doors to internships, graduate degrees, and careers.
That was the message the Michele Bowman Underwood Department of Modern Languages and Literatures at the University of Miami College of Arts and Sciences conveyed to students during its inaugural "Languages Beyond the Classroom" event.
“Too many students separate their language study from what they perceive to be more professional disciplines and courses,” said Logan Connors, the department chair. “This event was designed to help students better understand that learning a language is essential for their professional futures.”
Held on March 2 in the Frost Institute for Chemistry and Molecular Science, the event attracted students from schools and colleges across the University. It featured presentations by representatives from foreign embassies, workshops to help students highlight their language skills in their résumés, and information tables with flyers for a range of opportunities tied to different languages.
“Our goal is to empower students to recognize their language skills as a powerful and marketable asset—one that truly distinguishes them in an increasingly competitive job market,” said Viviana Pezzullo, the director of undergraduate studies in French, who developed the concept for the event and co-organized it with Maidelin Rodriguez, a senior lecturer in Spanish.
“In language classes, students learn far more than how to conjugate verbs in French, and sometimes they do not even realize it,” Pezzullo added. “They develop a unique set of highly transferable skills—critical thinking, cross-cultural communication, problem-solving, teamwork, empathy, and adaptability—that are in strong demand across professions. Language study is not just an academic pursuit, but a decisive professional advantage.”
At one of the résumé workshop tables at the event, Cecilia Vazquez, a senior lecturer in Spanish, prompted students to think of examples that connected their language studies with workplace skills.
Mia Skyman, a premedical student majoring in psychology, shared that she has used her Spanish language skills while shadowing doctors over the past two summers. At one of the hospitals she visited, roughly half of the doctors’ patients spoke Spanish, and Skyman was able to understand them thanks to the Spanish classes she has taken at the University, including courses tailored to health care professions.
“I want to make patients more comfortable in health care settings,” she said, explaining her motivation for learning Spanish. “I want to be able to speak with patients about their diagnoses and connect eye to eye.”
This is the type of connection the event organizers hope students make between their language studies and their professional ambitions.
“We wanted to create a space where students could connect language learning with the professional world in a practical way,” Rodriguez said.
At the information tables, students perused study abroad, fellowship, and internship opportunities connected to different languages. The Department of Public Health Sciences at the Miller School of Medicine also had a table for students interested in applying their language skills to a career in public health.
Fatima Kane, a senior majoring in computer science and minoring in French, was sitting behind a row of virtual reality (VR) headsets at the Modern Languages Labs table. She was helping students try out a VR app in which users can engage in conversations in a dozen languages.
Although there might not appear to be much overlap between Kane’s computer science degree and her French minor, she said she has already used both for a project at her internship with the French program.
“Right now, in my internship, I’m working on building a French homework platform, so that combines the two,” she explained.
At another table, Erika Liberus, the director of prestigious awards and fellowships at the University’s Office of Academic Enhancement, shared information with students about Fulbright awards and the U.S. Department of State Critical Language Scholarship Program, among other programs.
“This event was an excellent way to encourage students to explore how languages can expand their horizons,” she said. “Pursuing language-focused experiences can help make students more competitive for future academic and professional opportunities, and this program was a fantastic way for them to begin exploring the range of possibilities.”
