Languages
From Nulisbus
Contents |
Introduction
Being able to communicate fluently in a modern European Language can make the world of difference to your ability to succeed in business. Not only can you understand what is going on in business meetings, you can knock down the barriers between you and colleagues that would otherwise exist. Time and again, studies show that graduates who have some language skills as part of their degree are snapped up more quickly by employers.
Centre for Business Languages
The Centre for Business Languages is based at our Craiglockhart Campus. All our language teaching is related to the world of business. That means that everything you study is relevant to doing business with people from other countries.
You’ll study things like how to write a job application in your chosen foreign language, how to conduct a sales negotiation and how to discuss foreign affairs.
You can study French, German, Spanish and English as a Foreign Language to degree level, and we also offer Italian at beginners level.
You’ll find the staff in the Centre for Business Languages helpful and friendly. The Centre is reasonably small, so you’ll get to know both the staff and other students quickly.
As part of the Business School campus, the Centre for Business Languages benefits from 3 state-of-the-art digital language labs, making Napier the most technologically up-to-date place to study business languages in Scotland.
Library Resources
The Library holds various textbooks to assist you in your modules. Recommended texts should be available from the Craiglockhart Campus Library. Foreign language dictionaries, including technical dictionaries e.g. business dictionaries, are also available. These are usually, although not exclusively, for reference use only though.
As well as books there are also many foreign language journals and newspapers available, primarily at Craiglockhart Library. There is also a foreign language DVD collection including such titles as "Goodbye Lenin", "L'Auberge Espagnole" and "La Dolce Vita"
Internet Resources
Many databases that are listed on the Databases page are relevant to those studying languages as they cover global business. Nexis UK has newspapers and magazines from all over the world in many different languages, notably French, Italian, Spanish & German.
There are also many free websites which provide good quality information for students of languages, some of which are listed below.
French
Bonjour de France - le français à votre portée
- Web magazine aimed specifically at learners of French, to provide a direct point of contact with France.
- Clicnet is a huge collection of internet resources for learning French, based at Swarthmore University, Pennsylvania. Visit the section "Français langue étrangère et langue seconde" to find language learning materials, but the other cultural sections are all well worth a visit as well.
- Website of the French Institute in Scotland. Lots of very goods links within.
German
Forum Deutsch als Fremdsprache
- A wide range of teaching and learning materials for all kinds of German. See the Forum Wirtschaftsdeutsch link for business German resources. The website is a collaborative venture of the Institut für Internationale Kommunikation and the Heinrich-Heine-Universität, Düsseldorf, and contains a wealth of useful practice material.
Italian
- The WESS Italian Studies Web provides annotated links to scholarly web resources and other interesting sites. Subjects covered include the book trade, history, politics and literature.
Spanish
- The website of the authoritative academy for the Spanish language.
- The webpage of the Instituto Cervantes. The site contains articles on various cultural topics, and details of the Institute's courses (in the Aula de Lengua). Follow the links in the Oteador section for a huge collection of links to language learning resources.
