Higher education to mind its languages

Universities and colleges could make millions by providing language courses to British business. Stephen Hagen, dean of languages at Wolverhampton University and an adviser on the government's National Languages for Export Campaign, said that British companies lose billions of pounds a year because they fail to win contracts in non-English speaking counties. The Languages for Export Campaign, which is backed by the Department for Trade and Industry, offers businesses prizes of between Pounds 1,000 and Pounds 5,000 for language learning.