Why English Studies?
Could you tell me little about yourself and what you did before studying in the English Studies programme?
I come from Vitoria, the capital city of the Basque Country in Spain. I did my bachelor’s in translation in Madrid in 2014 and started working in a translation agency there after graduating. I also lived in Buenos Aires for a few years, where I worked as a translator for a textbook editorial, but since I moved to Helsinki five years ago, I have mostly been working from home as a literary translator.
Why did you decide to study in the English Studies programme at the University of Helsinki?
I had lived in Finland for a little while already and was looking for a way to expand my professional and social networks. My immediate goal was to do teacher training after finishing my master’s to get a teacher’s certification. It helped that the University of Helsinki is a very prestigious university that values and encourages research, but my goals were certainly quite practical.
What topics have you been focusing on during your MA studies? Have there been any standout courses?
My mindset has changed a lot since I first started studying here. Initially I was interested in literature, and since I was planning on becoming a teacher, I thought I didn’t need to think about the English courses I took too much. I ended up taking a few linguistics courses like corpus linguistics out of curiosity, thinking I might drop it in a few weeks, but I actually really liked them! I even to chose to write my MA thesis on linguistics instead of literature.
Historical Sociolinguistics was another course that really inspired me. Finding out about the niche between construction grammar and historical sociolinguistics through the linguistics courses and with guidance from my thesis supervisors has certainly been a highlight of these two years.
Another course that stood out was called Project in Digital Humanities. It was a little intimidating at first because it was about doing research and there were also people from data science and digital humanities in the classroom. It ended up being super enriching, and I would really encourage people to try courses outside of their own comfort zone because you can discover a lot of new things.
I’ve also been studying languages like German and Finnish at the language centre, and during my first year I was also a teacher’s assistant on Spanish courses. The flexibility to include these in my degree has been very enjoyable.
What have been the best parts of the MA programme for you?
The flexibility for sure. It’s not just about choosing between literature and linguistics, but also the ability to take optional courses on anything you want. If you are interested in the history of the Middle East, you want to learn Chinese, or whatever else you can think of, you can do it.
The flexibility allows you to work together with people from other fields. Using the Project in Digital Humanities course as an example, I got to work with people from data science who can see the big picture better from that perspective, but they don’t know the details of how grammar works as well as a linguist. Working together with them really taught me a lot.
I also got to do an internship in the
One valuable perk for linguistics students, particularly those looking to work with corpora like the CEEC family or the Helsinki Corpus of English Texts that were compiled at the University of Helsinki, is the ability get first-hand information from your teachers who actually helped build these corpora.
Student life in Helsinki
What does a typical weekday look like for you?
I am not taking courses anymore, but in the mornings, I would usually come to university and take the courses I had that day, and in the afternoons work on whatever book I was translating or do homework. Keeping active has been really important to me, so I’ve been going to UniSport, the student discount makes it quite affordable.
Have you found anything challenging during your studies?
The experience of being a foreigner in Finland, or really anywhere for that matter, is never easy. You’re so far from home and it can get overwhelming. It’s not really related to the university, and if anything, being a student opens up a lot of opportunities. You get to know a lot of people with all these interesting ideas, and other foreign students are studying here as well with their own stories and trajectories. Overall, it has enriched my life a lot.
What are the city and university like for you as a student?
The university itself is super cosy, a very welcoming and peaceful environment. You can spend the whole day studying in the library, for example, and then have a nice warm lunch at the cafeteria with a friend. I really love Kaisa-talo specifically – I even had a card to the university library before I enrolled in the programme. The underground floors are especially great, you can just get lost between all those dusty old books.
The city itself is much smaller than other cities I have lived in like Madrid or Buenos Aires. One thing that still blows my mind is how close to nature you always are – I live in an apartment in the city, but I can take a bus for half an hour and I’m already in the middle of the forest, and can go back home with a bucket full of mushrooms or blueberries.
Future prospects
What would you say to those considering applying to the English Studies programme?
People can be a bit apprehensive about how useful a master’s degree in humanities can be and unsure of where it’s going to lead you, but I encourage those thinking about applying to come here with an open mind and explore your interests fully. I came here with a very practical goal of doing the pedagogical studies after graduating, but I discovered linguistics and that sparked an interest in research I didn’t know about before. It’s a wonderful opportunity to work with people from other fields which has been incredibly eye-opening for me.
What do your future plans look like?
I’m planning on applying for a doctorate in spring, and hopefully continuing on to work as a researcher. For now, I am going to stay in Finland and continue working as a literary translator, it’s something I really enjoy. I might also do teacher training, but it’s not really a priority anymore.