Students

Our students come from all walks of life and are all united by a love of languages and a curiosity about cultures across the globe. Read on to find out more about what inspired some of our students to study with us and how their study has enriched their lives and careers.

Marielle Meulenberg: Finding happiness and a new direction in life

Studied: MA in Applied Linguistics

Marielle Meulenberg

I’ve found a way of being happy again.

As a language teacher I felt a fraud because I didn’t have any formal training. The OU MA course helped me figure so many things out. I’ve always suffered from self-doubt but when I completed my Masters I thought for the first time, ‘Yes, I am worthy.’ My tutor has recommended that I do the doctorate in linguistics. I’m also thinking of setting up a consulting firm for corporate communications. You might say the OU has set the course of my life for the next 10 or 15 years, and pointed me in a direction I feel comfortable with, I feel excited about. I’ve found a way of being happy again.

Find out about our Applied Linguistics course

Joanne Walker: Turning a love of language into an MA in Translation

Studied: MA in Translation (Spanish)

Doing this course has radically affected the way I think about everything.

As a French and Spanish teacher in school I didn’t get the opportunity to improve my own language skills, so I decided to study translation at the OU, because translating deepens your own knowledge of a language. The scope of the OU course was huge. We looked at how to translate legal language, medical language, literature, poetry, songs, news… I even got to translate a new Spanish play into English. If I had seen myself, before I started the course, sitting in a theatre watching a play I’d just translated I would have thought, ‘Is this some kind of dream?’ Doing this course has radically affected the way I think about everything. And that’s invaluable. I don’t think I’ll ever look back.

Find out about our MA in Translation
Joanne Walker