How languages changed my life:
I grew up in Bishop Auckland and learning languages at school not only opened up new experiences, but set me on my career path.
I started with French and German at school at Bishop Barrington Comprehensive and took part in several Durham County Council exchanges as a teenager.
I went to Tübingen in Germany when I was 13 and to Ivry-sur-Seine in France when I was 15. My whole family became friends with my host family in Tübingen and we had many holidays together over the years and are still in touch. They took me all round southern Germany and into neighboring countries—Austria, Liechtenstein, Switzerland—while I was staying with them.
An international trajectory
Those two exchanges set me on the path of studying international affairs not just languages.
Although Russian wasn’t available at my school, Durham County paid for me to start the language from scratch when I got to university (St. Andrews in Scotland), and I later ended up helping the County with its exchanges with the Kostroma region of Russia, including acting as a translator for visiting groups.
I moved to the United States for graduate school and continued with my Russian studies.
To the White House and beyond
I have worked on the topic of Russia for all of my career. I most recently served in the U.S. government as the top official for Europe and Russia at the National Security Council in the White House—using all the languages that I started out studying in school. On a couple of occasions, some of the people I have interacted with professionally, I actually met on County Durham’s exchanges when we were all a lot younger.
Studying languages can take you a long way in life—and sometimes to some very surprising places!
Dr Fiona Hill
- Specialist in Russian and European Affairs
- Academic and author
- Deputy Assistant to the United States President and Senior Director for Europe and Russia on the National Security Council 2017-19
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