<p>My friend is S of (legal) German immigrants. He is natural born American, and although his parents spoke almost all English as he grew up, he learned German too.
He got a job with Deutsche Bank. In his case, yes knowing that language got him that job.
Oddly enough, after a couple yrs in Germany, he was promoted and sent to Japan! So much for knowing German!</p>
<p>I have also heard of high schools and colleges encouraging business mgmt kids to study Spanish. Their reasoning is that more and more of the workers they might oversee are likely to speak Spanish.</p>
<p>At my very first job (as an editor), one of the manuscripts I was working on used some French phrase and included phonetic pronunciation. I pointed out to my boss that it wasn’t quite right and he took my say-so and changed it.</p>
<p>(login problems)
My second language has been integral to several jobs. I double-majored in math and French with a minor in computer science. NEVER thought I’d use the French, but I didn’t want to lose it and I was young and had time so just kept taking the classes until I had the degree.</p>
<p>Fast-forward a couple of years into my career as a software engineer, and I went to talk to a head hunter. He asked what my dream job would be, and I said “Ha ha ha - technical liaison for an American company with operations in Paris - Ha ha ha!” Two weeks later he calls with a job with a company that has OEM’s a packet switch from a company in Paris and needs a French-speaking software engineer to go over there and learn the system. For 6 months to a year. And I did! </p>
<p>Fast forward 17 years and I’m a stay-at-home mom, and my 15 year old suddenly comes home and begs me to substitute in his French class. I call the school to find out what the heck is going on in my son’s French class, end up jumping through the hoops to become a sub, get certified in math and French, get the job, end up teaching French, then math, and now computer science in our magnet program.</p>
<p>So my advice would be, if you love the language, GO FOR IT. It can’t hurt, and you never know!!!</p>
<p>Speaking French changed my career and my life.</p>
<p>mom2three–like they say, “Whatever you know you will use.”</p>
<p>I think it’s particularly good to know French b/c of the difficult (and sometimes arcane) pronunciation issues. It’s one of the languages that you look really ignorant in if you butcher the pronunciation. </p>
<p>I just heard a HS production of “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” and apparently someone advised the kids to pronounce “et bien” as “eh beYON” instead of well, whatever the IPA symbol is for the correct way. Really grated on my ears!</p>
<p>Our son is working for an engineering consulting firm in Rio (part-time right now while on a semester abroad). The firm values his engineering skills as well as his fluency in English since they work internationally, but also need him to have enough Portuguese to work in an office environment where English is seldom spoken. Training classes for him have been in Portuguese and he usually interacts with clients in Portuguese, even though the client and/or co-workers can all speak English as well.</p>
<p>He isn’t gifted at languages by any means but likes South American culture and knew he wanted to work somewhere in South America after graduation, if possible. If he couldn’t get a job in South America, then he wanted a company that would allow him to travel there on business. So he has worked hard at acquiring the necessary language skills (both Spanish and Portuguese) through language immersion courses and intensive study. That effort seems to have paid off.</p>
<p>My H uses his Spanish often. He is definitely not fluent. We joke that depending on the subject he is fairly fluent but his vocabulary is limited to areas outside of his field.
My SIL uses Spanish in her work as a school counselor. Another SIL got her job due to the ability to speak Tagalog.
My D is taking Spanish because she feels in her area of interest it will help her employment prospects.</p>
<p>I work with companies and governments all over the world. Senior executives in most places speak passable to excellent English (not always true in China or some other countries) and many government ministers do as well. But, when you drop below a certain level, English comfort may decline. I have been in client meetings with teams in Mexico and Venezuela in which my ability to understand and speak Spanish (poorly but not awfully) has been helpful in having a meeting with me as the only native English speaker go more quickly. If I have been in many settings in which fluency would have helped a lot. In working with French companies, I find a huge difference between a meeting in person and a “teleconf” of “videoconf” because I can’t really understand from their English whether they have gotten the idea, etc., because I can’t judge the body language and/or follow up. Same is true, but to a much lesser extent in Sweden.</p>
<p>Probably not. Unless you consider shorthand (remember that?) a foreign language.
It actually helped me get a raise when I was working temp jobs (and I just barely passed the test–I learned it in high school and hadn’t used it in 4 years).</p>
<p>I was just out of college and working for a construction company in an unfinished office building in Cleveland. I was the only female there, and it was a pretty gritty place, but most of the guys were nice and protective in a big-brotherly sort of way. (I’d worked at a car dealer in high school–the stuff I put up with definitely could be classified as harassment today). One day my (30ish) boss decided he just “had” to dictate a letter to me–since the company was paying the temp agency extra for my knowledge of shorthand. He made sure that the letter included the word “erection”–referring to the building of course. I didn’t blush. I couldn’t quite figure out if he was serious or not–I just typed up the letter and gave it back to him. So, IF that was a joke (looking back, it probably was. . .) it didn’t go over.</p>
<p>I am (was) an ESL teacher, and have studied several languages. A few times while traveling, I had to translate (French). Studying linguistics and knowing about different languages (if not actually knowing the languages) helps. It is usually pretty easy to find English speakers just about anywhere.</p>
<p>When I was working as an editor, I once caught an error in a French word with the accent going the wrong way. Having studied French in high school and college has helped me when I had to edit manuscripts using terms in other languages, just by being careful how things are spelled and that accents are consistent.</p>
<p>I encouraged my D to take French, and now that she is in med school, she is really sorry she didn’t take Spanish (and mad at me the I “pushed” her into French). If she had taken Spanish, she would definitely be able to use that as a doctor.</p>
<p>I think many of us do not realize how much it has helped to have studied a Latin-based language. The Latin roots are so similar from language to language that I can muddle my way through text written in other romance languages when I need to. The spoken language is another thing altogether!</p>
<p>This is an old thread, but I got something to share: recently, I got a receptionist job at a medical office thanks to my Spanish. Considering that I had no prior work experience, I consider myself lucky. Some of my friends (we’re all in college) have been looking for months now.</p>
<p>Once at work I was sitting with potential clients from Paris. They spoke perfect English, but after I’d explained my offer to them, they turned to each other and spoke French, which I understood, but didn’t let on. When they were ready to talk to me in English, I adjusted my offer slightly based on what they’d said to each other in French.</p>
I didn’t blush. I couldn’t quite figure out if he was serious or not–I just typed up the letter and gave it back to him. So, IF that was a joke (looking back, it probably was. . .) it didn’t go over.</p>