Name
Gethin

Company and location
EGACEA, Airbus France

Industry sector
Engineering

Background
Studied French with the Language Unit at Cambridge University whilst studying for an Engineering degree.

Why are languages important in your work?
Learning French not only improved my language skills but it also helped me develop an appreciation of another culture. This was an opportunity to develop the ‘cultural awareness’ skills that are favoured by transnational corporations like Airbus.

It is an important ability to be open-minded to alternative ideas and to see things from another person’s perspective and my language training has had a positive influence in this respect.

How does your language help you?
Having joined Airbus as a graduate engineer, I have spent the last two years working at the headquarters in Toulouse. While the working language is English, there is a clear appreciation from my colleagues of my efforts to learn French. Indeed, to truly integrate in the life inside and outside of work it is essential to make this investment.

While fluency helps with my daily work, even a basic understanding of French can be useful especially for introductions when meeting new people. From a professional viewpoint, working in France permits a broader knowledge of the business and is a good foundation for management of transnational teams.