Wel - (stress to provide contrast)

The conjunctional adverb wel always occurs in a sentence that is contrasted with another sentence which contains a negative element. This negative element is often niet, but can be something like moeilijk in the example below:

Afgestudeerde scheikundigen komen moeilijk aan werk. Wel is er veel vraag naar afgestudeerde talenstudenten.

Chemsitry graduates don't find work easily. There is (on the other hand) a demand for languages graduates.

It is almost impossible to translate wel into English, although a contrastive element with a slightly different meaning will often work ( 'on the other hand' in the example above would translate back into Dutch as daarentegen, anderzijds or aan de andere kant). Often added stress will do, or the extra use of the verb 'do':

Afgestudeerde scheikundigen komen niet makkelijk aan werk. Afgestudeerde talenstudenten komen wel makkelijk aan werk .

Chemistry graduates don't find work easily. Languages graduates do find work easily.