The School of Foreign Languages is the only liberal arts school at HEMC campus of Guangdong University of Technology, characterized by "communication between China and foreign countries and the cultivation of both language skills and practical abilities". Striving to forge a "big foreign language major" in the context of new engineering, and seizing the momentous historical opportunity of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Great Bay Area development momentum, it aims to cultivate applied, compound and innovative foreign language talents for the Area and the whole country. Our school boasts advanced teaching equipment, excellent environment for language learning and practice, and abundant learning resources in both Chinese and foreign languages. Up to now, it has provided more than 6000 graduates to society, and presently has about 1300 full-time undergraduate and master's degree students. Our students have excellent performance in TEM-4 and TEM-8, and in the International Japanese Language Proficiency Test Level 1,with the pass rate far exceeding the national average, or among the best in the provincial colleges and universities in Guangdong. With an employment rate of above 98%, our graduates are actively working in such sectors as domestic and foreign business, translation, education and other fields. And increasingly more of our students aim to pursue postgraduate or doctoral studies. In 2020, the proportion of graduates admitted to famous universities home and abroad is close to 20%.

Our school boasts a well-structured faculty. Of the 143 faculty members, 132 are full-time teachers engaged in the teaching of English, Japanese and other languages, and in research on linguistics, literature and culture; 31 of them have senior professional titles, 26 have doctorates and 7 are doctoral candidates. About 60% of the teachers have studied in Britain, the United States, Japan and other countries or worked there as visiting scholars. Our school also has over 10 foreign teachers. Over the years, our school’s teachers have actively engaged in academic research and yielded abundant achievements, including 30-odd monographs, nearly 100 translated works and teaching materials, 300 papers in important journals home and abroad, and over 60 research projects granted at the national, provincial, and municipal levels. In teaching competitions at various levels, our teachers have also made remarkable achievements.

Currently, our school offers four undergraduate majors in English, translation, business English and Japanese, and a master's degree program in English translation (MTI).

The major of English is an established major in our school. It focuses on the basic knowledge and theories of language, literature and cultural exchange, and aims to cultivate students' cross-cultural communicative competence and innovative abilities. Graduates can master sound bilingual skills in both English and Chinese, grasp the knowledge of global economic and trade management, and qualify themselves for general scientific and technological translation, foreign trade negotiations, language teaching and research work.

The major of translation develops students' practical ability of translation between Chinese and English, focusing on cultivating students' professional skills of bilingual translation and interpreting in the fields of science and technology, foreign affairs, international business, media and so on. Graduates of this major are qualified for interpreting and translation in the fields of science and technology, international business, foreign affairs, cultural exchanges and so on.

The major of business English trains high-quality innovative applied talents of "English + business" based on advanced and up-to-date pedagogy. It cultivates students' basic English language skills and business capabilities, cross-cultural communication competence, humanistic spirit and comprehensive quality, as well as basic abilities in innovation, autonomous learning and practical application. Graduates of this major are fit for the job of translation, research, teaching and management in various sectors such as foreign-related institutions, foreign-funded enterprises, banking, insurance, customs, border defense, press and publication, education, scientific research, tourism and other departments.

The major of Japanese fosters high-quality innovative and applied talents not only adept at Japanese but also competent in commerce and trade. Adopting advanced pedagogy, it enables students to acquire such abilities as basic Japanese language skills, humanistic spirit and cultural sensibilities, independent learning and practical applications, and help them to understand Japanese corporate culture and foster an open mind to communication between different cultures. Graduates are much sought for by Japanese enterprises and Sino-Japanese joint ventures. Meanwhile, many graduates pursue postgraduate studies in well-known universities home and abroad.

Our school has continuously been expanding its international exchange platform and has established good cooperative relations with foreign universities, including the University of West England, Newcastle University and Waseda University. Dozens of students are selected every year to participate in short-term programs with universities in foreign countries like the United States, Britain, Australia, Japan etc., in "2+2" undergraduate double-degree joint training program and "3+1+1" double-degree joint training program, creating opportunities for our students to expand their international horizons.

We have set up a broad innovation platform and a colorful extracurricular class. Students actively partake in disciplinary competitions and have won a lot of awards, such as the second prize in the final of the "FLTRP Cup" National Business English Practice Competition and the gold medal in the "Challenge Cup ∙ Creative Youth" Guangdong College Students Entrepreneurship Competition and other awards.