Ask HN: Jobs for a Language Savant?
I’m not sure if savant is quite the right word, but my son is a language genius. Taught himself to read at 3, started studying greek at 6, etc. We just finished a discussion about Navaho vs Georgian language structures, which I just barely followed along with. He’s studying some sort of microbiology engineering at college simply to get a job, but it’s not where his passion lay. Other than linguistics professor, are there other options in the job market for this sort of talent?
7 comments
Working at an intelligence agency? United nations? International law?Any area where there is an intersection of ideas across languages and cultures?
I'll humbly add my voice to those here and suggest - particularly if you see any inclination thereto whatsoever - you think of International law or legal studies.-
Baring work with actual linguistics the "next best actually practically useful work with language(s)" discipline is law.-
Language (and keen, precise language at that) is the ultimate tool of a jurist - and internationally, there's much good that can be done in that field by someone with such language talents.-
Now, given the quality (and quantity) of the gifts involved, and a penchant for language, I of course humbly also second "computational linguistics" - given how he seems to enjoy depth in the analysis (and, comparative analysis at that) of language structure.-
Baring work with actual linguistics the "next best actually practically useful work with language(s)" discipline is law.-
Language (and keen, precise language at that) is the ultimate tool of a jurist - and internationally, there's much good that can be done in that field by someone with such language talents.-
Now, given the quality (and quantity) of the gifts involved, and a penchant for language, I of course humbly also second "computational linguistics" - given how he seems to enjoy depth in the analysis (and, comparative analysis at that) of language structure.-
If it politically vibes with him and if he prefers applied linguistics to theoretical/academic, then SIGINT/signals intelligence, whether in the military or for intelligence services. Potentially certain types of analyst position or even in the diplomatic services, particularly in regions of the world with many/complex local languages and dialects (e.g. sub-Saharan Africa or central Asia).