|
 |
Official means of marketing language | ||
Share with:
| ||
 Language Learning Forum : Advice Center |  | |
| outcast Bilingual Heptaglot Senior Member China Joined 4955 days ago 869 posts - 1364 votes  Speaks: Spanish*, English*, German, Italian, French, Portuguese, Mandarin Studies: Korean | Message 1 of 13 28 February 2013 at 3:23pm | IP Logged | ||
|
By the title I mean this:
I need a little advice about my future plans. I'll lay out my "thinking" on this any anyone is welcome to shoot me down or add ideas or advice. I really need them right now! What are good ways to market your knowledge of languages in an "official" manner, or in a way that stands out to employers? The most obvious one that jumps to my head is to major in one at a university. Now,I may in fact do that in one of my languages (my target languages are French, German, Portuguese, and Chinese). At first glance, if I had to choose, I guess the most "impressive" would be a Chinese major. (again these are just my thoughts, please anyone with far more experience in the field correct me!) If I did that, it would leave my three other languages "unofficial". What could I do to show or indicate my competence in them, aside from getting a "minor"? I am not quite to working proficiency yet but I believe I could be in a couple of those languages in the next 18-24 month, especially if I have some in-country experience... So in other words, are there tests or certificates one can seek out that are useful in demonstrating you have proficiency in the languages you have studied, as an autodidact outside a "formal" school? I don't include English/Spanish in this conversation because I am fully native in both so I figured it is pointless to "prove" anything in them. (the "immersion" issue is another thing: can you get some sort of financial help to go to say, Germany or France, to improve the languages without actually majoring/minoring in them? For example, if I study Chinese two semesters and pass a level 2 HSK, I get scholarship help for 6 months in China... I'm not sure though if I can just study on my own, then take the test, and still get the scholarship, I have to ask that). I know all the above may sound crazy but I believe I have it me to achieve a marketplace coveted proficiency in two of my 2nd languages (of the four). To me time and money of course are the biggest hurdles, not motivation or even ability (I have been gifted with grasping languages). Let me caveat: I would "major" in something else beside a language as well. Either business, or translation, or maybe even science (though with the math load, while I'm not bad at math, it could be a bit out of reach). So bottom line, based on all of the above, how do I "emblazon" my language skills in ways employers find useful, relevant, etc? Or... perhaps, after all that I said, is a live performance with a native speaker is good enough? :o 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| iguanamon Pentaglot Senior Member Virgin Islands Speaks: Ladino Joined 5268 days ago 2241 posts - 6731 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Portuguese, Haitian Creole, Creole (French) | Message 2 of 13 28 February 2013 at 3:52pm | IP Logged | ||
For Brazilian Portuguese there's the Celpe-Bras
I am going to be a bit of a contrarian and advise against majoring in a language. I think majors outside of languages, useful in a modern 21st century economy, with the addition of language certificates would be more of an asset in business. If you go the translation route then, yeah, get yourself a language major. Edited by iguanamon on 28 February 2013 at 3:56pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| outcast Bilingual Heptaglot Senior Member China Joined 4955 days ago 869 posts - 1364 votes Speaks: Spanish*, English*, German, Italian, French, Portuguese, Mandarin Studies: Korean | Message 3 of 13 28 February 2013 at 4:17pm | IP Logged | ||
|
Yes, I would major in something other than just a language, as I said at the end of my
piece. I have other interests. I'm in my mid 20s going back to school so I'm not young as a normal student, I don't know if that makes any difference. Getting a double major in business/science + language was just a scenario I tossed out there. "Language" certificates like Celpe-Bras then are good enough? Thanks for the great link. That's the kind of stuff I am looking for. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| iguanamon Pentaglot Senior Member Virgin Islands Speaks: Ladino Joined 5268 days ago 2241 posts - 6731 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Portuguese, Haitian Creole, Creole (French) | Message 4 of 13 28 February 2013 at 6:51pm | IP Logged | ||
|
Look at it from the point of view of the employer and what you have to bring to the table. For example, if you have a degree in marketing, and a degree in computer science, native English and Spanish, with a certificate in Portuguese proficiency, a C1 certificate in German and a C1 certificate in French you might be very attractive to companies with an international web presence. Myself, I'd be more impressed with that than if you walked in with a degree in a language because it shows me that you are capable of taking the initiative on your own, but that's just me. I might even be inclined not to hire you because I'd know you'd spend your free time learning languages and visiting language forums. In my hypothetical international web business I only won't workers slavishly devoted to earning me more profit! Ha!
Seriously, I think having the piece of paper is important in a job search where having language skills is an asset. For most of us who don't have these kinds of jobs or aren't looking for them, taking such an exam can still help to focus your studies and give you a definite goal towards which to work. Good luck, outcast! 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Chung Diglot Senior Member Joined 7162 days ago 4228 posts - 8259 votes 20 sounds Speaks: English*, French Studies: Polish, Slovak, Uzbek, Turkish, Korean, Finnish | Message 5 of 13 28 February 2013 at 7:01pm | IP Logged | ||
|
"official" ways to signal your competency in a foreign language on your résumé:
- certificates from passing a proficiency exam - getting a degree in that language or its philology (although the results or fluency of graduates of such programs vary) - studying subjects where the language of instruction is the target language (e.g. you're an American physicist but studied in Germany with lectures and labs conducted in German) - being an executive/leader (or even a regular member) in an official group that's defined at least by language (e.g. Hungarian Scouting Association, Hispanic-American Chamber of Commerce, a cultural group or church/temple/whatever of a speech community or pool of members whose native language is "foreign") "unofficial" ways: - being a member (or even better an organizer) of a Meetup group for a foreign language (e.g. DC Russian Language Meetup) - unqualified listing of a foreign language in your résumé with the hope (expectation?) that the hiring manager notices or even conducts part of the interview on the fly in that language to test it (speaking from personal experience after a hiring manager from Slovakia was curious how "basic knowledge of Slovak" found its way on my résumé) - networking where your linguistic competency comes about without being contrived (e.g. if your friends know that you're into foreign languages and even fluent in a couple, you're opening yourself to the possibility that a friend of a friend gets wind of it and it leads to a work opportunity if the circumstances line up in everyone's favor). 5 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| htdavidht Diglot Groupie United States Joined 4629 days ago 68 posts - 121 votes Speaks: Spanish*, English Studies: French | Message 6 of 13 01 March 2013 at 1:53am | IP Logged | ||
|
There is not really a smooth translation of skills to a professional environment.
It all depends on the job you are looking for, and the company you plan to work for, and so on. For example some people prefer time of experience better than university titles, and the so. Yes there is some tests you can take that will measure your level and produce a certificate saying this. Some companies maybe take them some maybe don't, some companies maybe have their own test... For example Iguanamon is talking about A1, C2... this is Common European Framework, very useful to have if you planing to work in Europe. Sometimes you can convert from this to other system, sometimes you can't and need to take another test. If you planing to work for a government, they are more tight on the requirements, they will not just take any test and convert on a table. If you planing to work for any of this people, consider taking that specific test. For some jobs, like radio host or so, you can be just interview by someone there, and that is the test. Because they want to hear you, and are not impress how you perform on a paper, no even an university mayor. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| dampingwire Bilingual Triglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 4671 days ago 1185 posts - 1513 votes Speaks: English*, Italian*, French Studies: Japanese | Message 7 of 13 01 March 2013 at 2:58pm | IP Logged | ||
Leaving aside jobs with an obvious language component (tour guide and the like), where exactly is it that you see employers requiring language proficiency? I think you'd be better off deciding what you want to do with your life and acquire the skills needed for that. I'm a software engineer: the two occasions when I've been abroad for work, they spoke English. There are people in the office who speak various languages but whenever someone has been chosen to go and see a customer, ability to speak the customer's language has never (AFAIK) been a factor. As for time and money: no-one can help you with time. You need to sort that out for yourself, and starting early is a good idea (if only someone had mentioned this to me way back then ... :-)). Money isn't that much of a requirement. You don't need a university degree to speak a language: you need time and motivation. (For most languages you are likely to want to learn, there are plenty of resources on the net today). 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| espejismo Diglot Senior Member Russian Federation Joined 5057 days ago 498 posts - 905 votes Speaks: Russian*, English Studies: Spanish, Greek, Azerbaijani | Message 8 of 13 01 March 2013 at 4:32pm | IP Logged | ||
|
Did you you consider attending European universities? As in directly enrolling into one instead of doing a semester abroad? From what I understand, German and French universities are much cheaper than most of their American counterparts. I know a bunch of Russians who received their college education in Germany and France... Edited by espejismo on 01 March 2013 at 4:33pm 2 persons have voted this message useful |
|  | 
Printable version
|
| Copyright 2024 FX Micheloud - All rights reserved No part of this website may be copied by any means without my written authorization. |
