Meet Emma, College Services Advisor & Board Game Creator

maryhartley19
Nov 10
3 min read

Name: Emma

Degree: Italian and Spanish, University of Manchester

How did you spend your Year Abroad?

Studying at Universidad de Almería, Spain and Università per Stranieri di Siena, Italy

Briefly outline your journey from graduation to now.

I wanted to stay in the UK and use my languages but found it difficult, so I started working for myself as a private language tutor. I built up my client base over several years until I moved to a full time job as a College Services Advisor in an International College. I’ve been there for 3 years but am now hoping to transition back to being self employed as I work on my own project for languages. I’ve designed a card game that helps players passively learn a language (currently Italian) while they play. I’m in the stage of crowdfunding and marketing and hope to release the game in late 2026.

What is your current job?

College Services Advisor, University of Nottingham International College
Language Board Games Designer and Founder of Colloqwee Games

What does your current job involve day to day?

At the International College, my tasks involve helping international students settle into life studying in the UK and any college based queries throughout their journey from Registration to Graduation. I organise events and activities for the students including Welcome Week and Graduation ceremonies. It’s a busy environment with a lot of administrative tasks but I get to meet students from all over the world.

My board games company is quite new. I’m crowdfunding the game by myself, so there is a lot of learning and having a go at things I’ve never done before. I spent a long time designing and testing the game with a variety of players. I’ve also worked with an artist to design the game art, which has been fun trying to show a sense of Italian culture in the art.

What do you enjoy most about your job?

At the International College, I enjoy meeting people from all over the world with different cultures and learning from them. I also love being surrounded by people who speak multiple languages and are open to other cultures as it’s a really open and inclusive environment.

For my own business, my favourite thing is seeing how many people are interested in learning a language. I’ve always felt that learning languages wasn’t that popular in the UK but my game is starting to prove me wrong and I love it!

What advice would you give to someone interested in this job?

For the International College, I’d advise being open to any types of tasks as you never know what it could lead to in future.

For starting your own business, my advice would be to just go for it. If you’re passionate, you’ll enjoy the journey no matter the outcome.

How has your languages degree been useful during your career so far?

I’ve used my language skills for tutoring and for creating my game. The transferable skills such as research, public speaking, presentation skills, working as a team and individually, working to deadlines, etc has been helpful in all jobs I’ve done after graduating.

Do you use or practise your languages outside of work?

In 2019, I started my own language exchange in Nottingham and used that to help me find people to keep up my languages in my spare time. I met my partner there and so I use my languages at home too and when we travel to see his family.

I regularly watch films and series in other languages as well as reading books and listening to music.

After graduating, I found conversation exchange partners online and regularly called them to keep up my language skills. I’m still friends with them now.

WHAT NEXT WITH LANGUAGES?