Philological profession. Not a single word: whom to work after philology

"If you carefully observe the staff of McDonalds, you can immediately notice the philologists: they put cutlets in buns, and do not lay them down like the rest." (Joke).

In our opinion, the image of a graduate of the Faculty of Philology is inextricably linked with low wages and lack of demand on the labor market. But what is this profession really like, and what can you do after graduation?

“PU” tells four non-banal stories about people whose professional activity  organically connected with the formation of a philologist.

Yana Exam

Yana Exam - YouTube Blogger, Journalist, and Tutor

She graduated from the Volgograd Socio-Pedagogical University only this summer, but she is already working and developing her own YouTube channel dedicated to preparing for the Unified State Exam in Russian. She has been engaged in rewriting and editing texts since she was 14 years old, she has been tutoring since the first year, worked as a leading reporter, and a year later became the head of news production in the same company.

The channel appeared about a year ago, when Yana realized that she could do a little more for her students: “Why spend time repeating the theory that I explained a month ago if the child can watch my video before the start of the lesson?” Says Yana. First, she recorded several videos, uploaded them and made them open access in case anyone else needed. “I didn’t count on anything at all, I wrote in the kitchen, because in the same kitchen I conduct classes - it’s spacious and bright. And a couple of days later I went to the channel in the morning and found as many as six enthusiastic comments from strangers to me. Took off again, then again. And then the summer came, the need, it would seem, should have come to naught, but the opposite happened - the audience "flooded". The sea of \u200b\u200babsolutely ridiculous questions in the spirit of "how to dress for September 1", "what to buy at the university", "what will be the first day." Of course, it’s easy for me to tell you about it, but it’s amazing how much the children are afraid of everything ”- says Yana.

Since the advent of the YouTube channel, much has changed. The girl admits that for the first time in her life there was a “pink dream”, to which she confidently goes: “I would really like to travel around the cities and arrange big seminars for the guys. I love live communication, people and I understand perfectly what enormous moral support every teenager needs. Most likely, it makes sense to think seriously when the channel gains an audience of at least one hundred thousand. ”

The most difficult in his work as a blogger, Yana considers the quality of the video: screen saver, captions, good light and editing. Despite all the problems with the technical part, there is no doubt that most of the audience will still watch Yana’s video, because not the picture is important here, but the semantic content.

As a mentor to the younger generation, Ian gave some tips to help future philologists:

1. The easiest way to study at the philology course is for those who knew and studied Russian well at school, because until the last year this will help you, the base is the base.

2. In the first year, behave yourself well, do not skip or be rude. Observe your environment and build your reputation.

3. Regarding employment - to each his own. Someone will remain at the university for a master and graduate student, someone will go to work in schools and colleges, someone will go to the media editorial offices, someone will feel sick from the faculty so that he goes to the factory, if only hear about Mayakovsky and reductions. The main thing is to know that literate people are needed everywhere, the world is really getting stupid, even the media can not always cope with the design of speech, as if we are forgetting our language. Let's go to the philology faculty - you won’t become ideal, but try to at least be like those. Develop speech, read books, any profession related to people is ideal for a philologist, because you need to communicate, influence, and convince. By the way, I know a lot of successful lawyers, marketers and managers who have a first philological education.

5. If you are already studying, but do not like it - do not be discouraged, maybe at least interesting books will be advised. In general, a university is not a verdict; you can always do something else in parallel, even nuclear physics. Everything is in your hands, just try to benefit from everything you do.

Egor Bychkov

Egor Bychkov - translator and editor

He graduated from the Philology Department of St. Petersburg University, Department of Russian Language and Literature, Master's program in the Literature of Foreign Countries of Europe and America (emphasis on literature in Spain and Latin America). Since 2014 he is studying there in graduate school.

Now Yegor is already teaching Spanish at a language school, editing books for publishing, translating stories and poems from Spanish. “The latter is still difficult to call work, because it happens from time to time, no one specifically hires me for this. But one day I would like to make this part of the profession, ”Yegor admits. In the spring of 2017, he participated in the Eurasian competition for the best literary translation, where he won a prize. The competition task was to translate two short stories of Arreola and a poem by Jose Emilio Pacheco. “The transfer took a little day,” says Yegor. “Another day for a final check. In the case of verses, it takes more time, because with each reading it seems that it can be said better. When it seems that further change is only spoiling, then I stop. ”

Egor translates the stories of the Mexican writer Sergio Pitol, he plans to write a dissertation about him. He would also like to one day thoroughly take up the poems of Pablo Neruda, which now, according to Yegor, is not sufficiently translated.

“It took me 6 years of work in a completely different field (management of the restaurant business) to understand that I did not need it at all, and I want to do only what is related to teaching, language and translations,” Yegor said.

“Advice is always difficult, because everyone, of course, expects something of their own from the university. Both the schoolchild at the age of 16-17 and the graduate at the age of 21-22 do not equally understand what they want to do. ” According to Yegor, the only advice that future students of the Faculty of Philology need to give is not to listen to anyone, make their choice, make mistakes, learn from them and not be afraid to make radical decisions.

Marina Zagorskaya

She graduated from Udmurt University in 1996, her specialty is a philologist, translator, teacher of French and English. After graduation, Marina worked for two years in her specialty and taught foreign at the university, but then decided to move into the field of advertising. Now she is a leading manager of the sales department, engaged in outdoor advertising.

“My daily duties include communication with clients, transactions and work with documents. Naturally, philological education helps me with this, ”says Marina. “If you speak and write correctly, you know how to correctly and beautifully formulate your thoughts, then this already contains a part of your success in any type of activity.” The most important skill acquired at the university, Marina considers the ability to find information in the book, literally use it as a source of knowledge. It helps in many life situations, not just at work.

“If you choose a faculty by vocation and great love for the subject, then it will be useful for further life, no matter what area you later work on,” says Marina. In her opinion, whatever you do in life, education is always useful. It becomes the foundation for all subsequent stages.

Alina Antonova

Alina Antonova - songs in Udmurt, culture and public relations

Graduated from Udmurt state University  in 2016, its main subjects were Hungarian and Udmurt. Immediately after graduation, Alina began to work by profession at school: she taught music and the Udmurt language, she was also an organizing teacher, but eventually began to feel that she was out of place. Since childhood, Alina performed on stage, was interested in art, so she radically changed her life and got a job at the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Udmurt Republic. Now she is a leading expert expert in the department of art and education, a press secretary of the ministry, and is also responsible for the official website of the institution.

“You can’t imagine how often philological education helps me in my work: you need to make press and post releases on events, on various decisions of the ministry, write official business letters. Without my knowledge of the rules of the Russian literary language, this would have been much more difficult.", - says Alina.

The girl admits that when she just entered, she really thought that she would work at school and teach children literature and language. But a large amount of paper trouble, which did not leave time for creativity at all, made her change everything at once.

At the junction of love for art and philology, another lesson appeared for Alina: she composes and sings songs in the Udmurt language. “Promoting our culture,” the girl says about this hobby. In university years, she studied modern Udmurt fables, which Alina also talks about with enthusiasm and enthusiasm.

“You must never forget that you graduated from the philological faculty,” Alina insists. “A huge responsibility is imposed on graduates, because we are carriers of the correct, literary language. And when a person who has graduated from our faculty speaks incorrectly, with errors, he dishonors not only himself, but all the representatives of our specialty. ”

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There are two wonderful, very funny jokes.

—  What do you say when you see a graduate of the philological faculty?

“Two cheeseburgers, a big potato and a coke!”

— Who are you going to work after graduating from the faculty?

- Oh, I still can’t choose! All roads are open in front of me: secretary, technical equipment, sales assistant ...

What is the truth in these jokes? Judging by my former classmates (mostly, of course, classmates) - then it is small. Of course, few work in the specialty, and if they work, then teachers (for which it was not at all necessary to study Latin, Gothic, as well as fundamental philological disciplines to the extent that we taught them). For example, only a few went to translators, although many probably freelanced (I think it’s very shameful). But all the same, nobody at McDonald’s Free Cash! Shouts, and it seems that there is no secretary at all (although one of ours seems to be sitting at the reception at the hotel). But basically, of course, everyone became some kind of managers and have their own piece of bread and butter even after the philological faculty (as, to be honest, they would have it with any other crusts).

So it is unlikely that these jokes are really based on real events. There is no “curse of philological faculty”, and it’s quite possible to get settled. But why do so few people work in their specialty? Is it true that philologists - precisely philologists, and not guys who have lost their lives, SUDDENLY finding in their hands a philology diploma - do not need anyone?

You know, if you look at the reality surrounding us, you can rather think the exact opposite. A desperate lack of philologists in all areas of our lives is just as hard to miss as a fire truck driving down the street. “A philologist is required!” Shouts a huge billboard with the words “Built-in furniture.” “Philologist! Urgently! Is there a philologist here? ”A magazine with the headline“ Your brilliant career ”displayed on the cover groans.

A true philologist knows that a person is not a toilet.

So, aren't we needed, say, in marketing? Yes, perhaps in order to write advertising texts, compose slogans and develop brand names, you need special education, and not just philology. (Every self-respecting advertiser will say that separate education  it’s necessary even for each of the listed types of activities.) But is it really impossible to take at least an editor-philologist so as not to produce endlessly disabled people like “ZERO Year Credit” or “Good Purchase” (this is where they offer to accumulate points in the supermarket and exchange them for some hammock )? And the slogans! “Build the future with soul-warmth”? “Feel the feeling of cleanliness”? “Overtook the ubiquitous toilet” ?! What?!

But are we - oh, a sore subject! - not needed in the field of localization of games? It would seem, even how - and this is confirmed by the fact that game publishers often turn to a translation agency, where philologists are sitting (in theory, I judge by myself). But how little trust there is in us ... Yes, we are not perfect either - in our translations of games for millions of characters you can find typos and clumsy phrases. But we always try to carefully think over the names of races (as well as the entire "artistic" part that is associated with them), monsters, spells, objects - separate and component sets ... And how frustrating it is when customers then change all this to their own right - manually coined names, illogical, not compatible with the context of the game, and most importantly - terribly sounding for the Russian ear! .. Sometimes they even change them as auto-substitution - for example, the masculine word for the feminine word - without taking into account the need to rewrite the rest of offer Niya. I’m silent about the fact that a random typo (or even a spelling mistake) with such a macar can be replicated over the entire text of the game. But gamers are then surprised that the native speaker “great mighty Russian language” translated it.

And the television - doesn’t it cry for the help of philologists? The acquaintances working in it say that material editors always and necessarily exist, and these are people with the appropriate education. But dozens, hundreds of people come into contact with the text, and someone will definitely spoil something. For example, some operator drives a creeping line, and whether it is edited at all is unclear. If so, where are there so many mistakes? Next: illiterate speech. Announcers - wherever else went ... but presenters of various programs often do not even have a journalistic education, not like a philological one. Most often, their task is simply to shine with their face that is already popular in any field. I’m silent about the guests of most programs, 90% of which are “stars” from some other “factory”. It’s clear that there’s no need to be able to tell them correctly and nowhere. But what, you can’t ask the editors to at least place the stresses and indicate correct pronunciation  words in texts that “stars” probably memorize anyway? Well, they themselves do not come up with the right word.

In a word, I would like sometimes to attach a personal philologist to everyone ... You print, for example, a price tag in a store, and a philologist looks over your ear from your shoulder like this: oh, you double! Well, where do you write “haddock filet”! Or do you want to, say, make an amendment to Wikipedia, but the philologist is: oh, no better! After all, you can’t correctly write a single word;

I’m joking, of course. I’m trying to come up with an alternative to jokes at the beginning of the article, but it’s not so funny at all ... But still - why is it easier to imagine a “philologist” who, after graduating from a university in Auchan, has put things to life forever with philology? Why do people not work in their specialty, if this is possible and necessary?

The answer is simple: because they don’t want to. I remember how in the first week of the first year, we - a group of people who first met, among whom I expected to find many like-minded people - looked at the schedule of couples. And I will never forget how, when she immediately discovered the theory of literature, ancient literature and Russian literature of the 19th century, one girl exclaimed indignantly: “Well, hello! What kind of literature is this, where did I get to? Actually, I came to learn English! ”And how almost the whole group supported her.

Yes. Many really did not get there. English language  in our time, learning is very important - it seems even more important than Russian; but this does not have to be done at the faculty. There are many opportunities to get a good, sought-after profession in any field, and at the same time learn English directly at the university. There are a bunch of faculties in which the coveted diploma of some higher education  can be obtained without putting extra effort and not getting extra information.

So do not go to the philology faculty if you do not want to become philologists. You can get to McDonald's in a simpler way.