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This month’s interview is with N. Haʻalilio Solomon, who wears many diverse and interesting hats in his roles as Hawaiian and Tahitian language Instructor, Hawaiian Translator & Radio Host. He is also the president of the Kealakai Center for Pacific Strings. If you would like to hear more about Haʻa’s work, check out his episodeonField Notes, a podcast about linguistics fieldwork. 

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Photo courtesy of Mahina Choy-Ellis and NMG Network

What did you study at university? 
BA: ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi (Hawaiian language)

MA: LinguisticsPhD: Linguistics

What is your job? 

I am an educator, translator, writer and editor for Hawaiian language media content, radio host, and a researcher.

As a radio host, I get to play old Hawaiian music on a weekly university-radio program which I host entirely in ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi, the Hawaiian language. Every Sunday afternoon, I pull vinyl records, CDs, and digital files of older mele Hawaiʻi (Hawaiian music) based on a theme I have chosen beforehand. It’s so much fun because I get to choose different themes each week! One week, the theme might be “songs about steamships”, and another week, it might be “songs composed in the 19th century”. After I select a theme, I play songs related to that theme, presenting and talking about them in Hawaiian the entire time, and I also get phone calls that request songs related to the theme as well! My radio program is a great way to celebrate and normalize Hawaiian language in its ancestral homeland in a very accessible venue. 

Another job I have held is a translator and interpreter for Hawaiian and English language. This has been an eye-opening position for me to realize certain attitudes people have toward (or against) Hawaiian language. For example, even though Hawaiian is a co-official language of Hawaiʻi, some people think it does not belong in certain domains. I have been the interpreter in court several times for people who have chosen to represent themselves while Hawaiian, and most times, the general vibe in the courtroom is awkward at best and condescending at worst. Legal officers and judges, who are actors on the behalf of the government, have typically negative reactions towards requests for Hawaiian language representation. This is a problem, especially given Hawaiian’s co-official recognition status, but also because these reactions do not apply to requests for interpretation for other languages (which are not official). These experiences motivate me to raise awareness and bring justice to Hawaiian speakers by ensuring their right to interpretation is protected.
Helping people have more positive ideas about Hawaiian language involves normalizing it in the linguistic landscape of Hawaiʻi. FLUX is a local lifestyle magazine that has recently hired me as the Hawaiian language editor for their publication. This is helping to reshape the linguistic landscape by adding Hawaiian language pieces to the discourse here in Hawaiʻi, but is especially relevant and effective because of the content we choose to feature. FLUX has always paid important attention on arts & culture, local politics, and other topics that are current and high-profile. To feature these topics in Hawaiian starts to shift the paradigm by de-centering English, even just a bit, and move Hawaiian language media back into a more prominent role. This also demonstrates the role that media has in language revitalization!

How does your linguistics training help you in your job? 

Linguistics grounds all of my multilingual work, and when I have to think about certain translation decisions, the theories that have been robustly developed in the field of linguistics inform my decisions and make that process easier. As a polyglot, linguistics is my favorite subject, and it has given me a foundation and training that informs all of my work.

What was the transition from university to work like for you? 

I was fortunate to start teaching Hawaiian as a lecturer, and then I started pursuing an MA in Linguistics to justify my promotion to an instructor, so the transition felt serendipitous and mutually beneficial for my graduate studies and my career. And in the context of language revitalization, as in Hawaiʻi, a career is synonymous with a way of life, philosophy, and a calling to which I am committed both professionally and personally.

Do you have any advice you wish someone had given to you about linguistics/careers/university?

Start making flashcards to memorize the IPA. HAHA! But seriously, linguistics as a formal training certainly has an application in certain careers, like research, preservation, education, etc. But I have been blessed to have so many professors, mentors, and cheerleaders who have always helped me realize how my training as a linguist can be applied all sorts of interdisciplinary projects. This is always so much fun for me!

Any other thoughts or comments?

I feel giddy when I tell others “I am a linguist”. The doors that this field has opened for me have come back to bless me tenfold.

Related interviews:

Recent interviews:

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The Linguistics Jobs Interview series is edited by Martha Tsutsui Billins. Martha is a linguist whose research focuses on the Ryukyuan language Amami Oshima, specifically honourifics and politeness strategies in the context of language endangerment. Martha runs Field Notes, a podcast about linguistic fieldwork. 

#language #linguistics #linguistics jobs #linguist jobs #lingjobs #language revitalization #hawaiian language #tahitian language #translator #radio host 
Superlinguo@superlinguo
Mon, 04 Apr 2022 08:00:24

This month’s interview is with Nicole Yamamoto, who works remotely from Mexico City as a Customer Success Manager. In this interview, Nicole shares how her studies in linguistics impacts not only her current role working at a diverse international startup company, but also her former job teaching English in Japan with the JET Program.

You can follow Nicole on Instagram (@nkyams) and on LinkedIn.

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What did you study at university? 

I did a Bachelor’s in Humanities: Applied Linguistics in 2011 at the University of Victoria, and a Diploma in Business Administration: Marketing at Camosun College in 2018. 


What is your job? 

I work for a global HR tech company as a Customer Success Manager. A lot of people think this means my work is in the realm of recruiting but what I actually do is onboarding. I help other companies who wish to hire remote workers around the world put everything in place. For example, my day-to-day job involves processing employment contracts and ensuring they are compliant with local labour laws of the country where the worker resides. This often involves guiding our clients on the differences between a statutory benefit versus a customary one in order to help them offer a competitive benefits package to their candidates. I also work directly with local partners in many countries around the world to help set up the workers’ payroll, pension, and health insurance.  

How does your linguistics training help you in your job?

My linguistics training is very helpful in my job. Working in a global HR company means that on a day-to-day basis, I am communicating with people whose first language is not English. This includes external clients but also internally as we are a fully distributed team located across 50+ different countries. My linguistics training helps in 3 different areas: communication, cultural understanding, and training. As part of my applied linguistics degree I studied second language acquisition which has given me a deeper understanding of how language develops and is understood. This allows me to phrase my sentences and shape my communication in a way that I know will be more intelligible to non-native speakers of English. It isn’t possible to study linguistics without also learning about cultural differences since language and culture are so intertwined. So, this allows me to be more patient, understanding and even appreciative of the cultural differences between my colleagues and I. Lastly, as one of the more senior members on the team, I often help and train newer employees who have joined the company. Due to my educational background in linguistics and teaching experience, this makes it easier for me to train others and feel comfortable while doing it.

What was the transition from university to work like for you? 

After university, I applied for and was accepted into the JET program in 2012. For those unfamiliar with the JET Program, it is a program which was started by the Japanese government in order to improve the English proficiency of Japanese students. The program employs approximately 4,000 native English speakers from around the world to teach at public schools across Japan. This was a great transition from university to work that I highly recommend because it provided a decent salary post-university and allowed me to gain practical work experience while enjoying travel, meeting new people, and being exposed to different cultures. It is still one of the most impactful times of my life even ten years later and has greatly shaped who I am today.

Do you have any advice do you wish someone had given to you about linguistics/careers/university? 

Yes, I began down the path of linguistics because I had originally wanted to be a translator and a career counselor told me linguistics would be useful. Knowing what I know now, this was not the correct path to becoming a translator as there are specific training programs for that. I realize now that the career counselor likely told me this because she carried the same misconception many people seem to hold about linguistics. Whenever I tell people I studied linguistics their first follow-up question nine out of ten times is “so, how many languages do you speak?” Those who have studied linguistics know well that it is not about acquiring multiple languages but about understanding the structure and etymology of languages. In the end, I wish someone had told me that the skills and knowledge you acquire studying linguistics are beneficial as transferable skills but unless you are looking to go into academia, the job opportunities will not be diverse or plentiful.

Related interviews:

Recent interviews:

Resources:

The Linguistics Jobs Interview series is edited by Martha Tsutsui Billins. Martha is a linguist whose research focuses on the Ryukyuan language Amami Oshima, specifically honourifics and politeness strategies in the context of language endangerment. Martha runs Field Notes, a podcast about linguistic fieldwork.

#language #linguistics #lingjobs #linguistics jobs #linguist jobs 
Superlinguo@superlinguo
Mon, 07 Mar 2022 08:01:40

This month’s interview is with Shivonne Gates, who works at Frontline, a charity which aims to create social change by developing excellent social work practice and leadership. This interview is a great example of how one can conduct research and utilize mixed methods outside of academia, as Shivonne does on a daily basis in her role as an Impact Lead. You can follow Shivonne on Twitter (@ShivGates) and LinkedIn. You can hear more about Shivonne‘s academic work, and post-PhD career, in Lingthusiasm Episode 48: Who you are in high school, linguistically speaking.

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What did you study at university? 

I have three degrees in linguistics! BA, MA and PhD. My undergrad was from the University of Sheffield, which gave me a really broad and varied grounding in lots of subfields of linguistics (sociolinguistics, phonetics, historical linguistics, language acquisition, dialectology, syntax, stylistics… all the good stuff!). I then focused in on sociolinguistics during my MA at North Carolina State University which was a great springboard into my PhD at Queen Mary University of London where my thesis explored linguistic variation and ethnic identity among adolescents in East London.

What is your job? 

In my new job as Impact Lead for Frontline, I am designing and delivering a programme of research focused on demonstrating the longer-term outcomes and impacts of the Frontline social work training programme. Essentially, Frontline wants to know how effective their programme is at training top-notch social workers, and as a result how this programme leads to better outcomes for the children and families supported by these social workers.

How does your linguistics training help you in your job? 

In lots of ways! From a practical research skills perspective, my training in sociolinguistics was a helpful stepping stone into mixed methods social research. For example, for sociolinguistic interviews we use question modules, which is very similar to a discussion/topic guide used for in-depth qualitative interviews. And my understanding of inferential statistical modelling has been helpful in being able to pick up impact evaluation methodologies quickly. I also got lots of transferrable skills: I am now an excellent writer and not daunted by producing research reports - they feel like a walk in the park compared with a PhD thesis! I also think conference and teaching experience were really helpful in honing my skills in synthesising complex information, public speaking, and working with and supporting junior staff.

What was the transition from university to work like for you? 

Honestly, it was quite difficult. My first job after my PhD was as a social researcher at the National Centre for Social Research. Because I was no longer directly doing linguistics in my job, I really missed it (and still do). I also found the transition from working on my own research to working on a team led by someone else quite hard (although I did love the support of working on a team!). I also found it hard not having the time to dive deep into research in the way you do in academia, as I was across multiple projects and had much tighter deadlines than you do in academia. But, once I adjusted, I actually really enjoyed the pace, loved how much I learned in such a short space of time and thrived working across lots of different projects within a broad policy area.

Do you have any advice do you wish someone had given to you about linguistics/careers/university?

I wish I had known how much of a financial undertaking it is to do a PhD! Even though I was funded, I feel I’m still playing catch up financially from having four years in my 20s when I wasn’t earning very much money. I also received some advice that I wish I had ignored: that it is good to move around for your degrees. Yes, it can be a good way to broaden your training, but it’s not a dealbreaker for academic jobs and staying in one place might have given me more stability (and therefore headspace and better mental health) which really helps with managing the stress of a PhD. I also wish someone had warned me about how emotionally invested you become in your thesis, which makes it really difficult to deal with days/weeks that don’t go as you intended. I coped well with my BA and MA, so the emotional and mental health challenges that came up for me during my PhD took me by surprise. Get a therapist!

Any other thoughts or comments? 

Doing a PhD was on the whole a really fulfilling experience, and I don’t regret doing one. But ultimately I could do my current job without one. I guess I kind of wish I’d known about social research careers as an undergrad: I went into my MA and PhD with the goal of being a researcher, I had no idea I could do research as a career outside of academia until the second or third year of my PhD. 

Related interviews:

Recent interviews:

Resources:

The Linguistics Jobs Interview series is edited by Martha Tsutsui Billins. Martha is a linguist whose research focuses on the Ryukyuan language Amami Oshima, specifically honourifics and politeness strategies in the context of language endangerment. Martha runs Field Notes, a podcast about linguistic fieldwork.

#lingjobs #linguistics #language #impactlead #socialwork #linguist jobs #linguistics jobs 
Superlinguo@superlinguo
Mon, 07 Feb 2022 08:00:23
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