Practical Applications of Linguistics?

This is the question that everybody asks me when I tell them what I am studying. I'm studying both philosophy AND linguistics - clearly practicality isn't my strong suit.

I know several people with undergrad or postgrad linguistics degrees, and they have all used them in different ways. I am not suggesting they are at all representative, but it is interesting that three out of the four people mentioned below all studied the same degree together, and yet all have ended up applying their degrees rather differently.

My partner has a bachelors majoring in linguistics. She is an English teacher, particularly focusing on ESOL. In fifteen years of teaching, she is the only English teacher she knows of in any of her schools that majored in linguistics. She suggests that most of the English teachers she knows majored in literature or education.

She has recently begun studying postgrad psych. She is interested in looking at trauma and speech pathology, which rather clearly follows from some of her linguistics studies.

We have a few friends and colleagues with linguistics degrees. One is a speech therapist, which is probably the most direct application of her linguistics degree out of them all.

Another friend has gone on to further academic studies in neurobiology and cognitive science. Obviously his linguistics background has rather an influence on his studies, although whether this is considered a "practical" application is up for argument (like me, he seems to be aiming for a role as a permanent student).

A third friend is a textbook and technical writer for the education department and a casual high school teacher. She also ghostwrites non-fiction and occasionally fiction (at a phenomenal rate, too). She comes from a particularly strong linguistics background, as her father is a prominent linguistics professor, and her husband is doing a masters in linguistics, although she is now doing postgrad studies in history. I'm not sure you can consider this a practical application of her degree, but it clearly influences her perspective.

If I can just contrast with McSology, though - while all of us have at least one other language, I don't think any of us have studied it at uni level. Certainly my degree offers various languages, but does not prescribe it. I am transferring to another institution next year with a stronger emphasis on learning another language, but it is still perfectly optional there as well, and indeed isn't even mentioned in the list of first year linguistics electives (which doesn't preclude me from taking it). It appears that there is a fair difference from course to course on this matter.

/r/linguistics Thread