any suggestions for foreign language?

momrath
Thu, 11 Jan 2007 06:48:52 +0000

lspf, for IR, especially if your son is ultimately interested in a foreign service career, there is no wrong answer as far as language is concerned. Some postings require language skills prior to arrival; for others officers are given immersive language training on arrival. But, conversely, having fluent langage skills does not necessarily result in a related posting. Career officers tend to find the job that offers advancement first then learn the language as required.

If your son’s potential area of concentration will be the middle east, then he should by all means give Arabic a try. I find any language that I can’t “read” to be extremely difficult to learn (never tried Arabic, but I was hopeless at Chinese both Mandarin and Cantonese). I do a lot better when I can see the word and write it. Your son will find out soon enough if he has an ear for it.