Stories from Our Graduates - How studying German shaped their paths:

I spent my Erasmus year at Leipzig University, which led me to do an Erasmus Mundus Master’s programme, after which I moved to Berlin in January 2020. From then until October 2022, I worked as Policy Officer for Trade, Investment and Innovation at the Embassy of Ireland in Berlin, where my German language skills were crucial every day – from organising meetings with German government representatives to participating in political briefings and translating these into insights for the Irish government. That role led me to my current job as a digital policy researcher at the Fraunhofer Institute for Open Communication Systems (FOKUS) in Berlin – part of the Fraunhofer Society, Germany’s largest applied research organisation. I now work fully through German, writing policy papers, engaging with stakeholders across the German digital policy landscape and even speaking on a German-language podcast (https://www.oeffentliche-it.de/oefit-podcast/single-digital-gateway-verordnung/).

Studying German at UCC not only shaped me as a person, growing my confidence (especially by giving me the opportunity to spend a whole year studying abroad) but also opened doors to another world for me professionally. In particular, I continue to reap the benefits of the opportunities for daily language practice with German native speakers and academic writing classes.

 Liadán Sage, graduation from the BA programme Arts International (German and Spanish) in 2017