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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| Clarity Groupie United States Joined 3524 days ago 85 posts - 107 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 1 of 14 08 April 2015 at 5:07pm | IP Logged | ||
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I was reading an article last night about the grueling process the U.S. Department of State uses to hire Foreign Service Officers. They noted that applicants who can speak certain languages, such as Mandarin, Arabic, etc., were given some preference. It occurred to me that many of you would be a "hot commodity" due to all the languages you speak. Have you ever been contacted by international businesses or your government to see whether you'd be interested in a position? It seems that your proficiency would be irresistible to them.
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| Chung Diglot Senior Member Joined 7158 days ago 4228 posts - 8259 votes 20 sounds Speaks: English*, French Studies: Polish, Slovak, Uzbek, Turkish, Korean, Finnish | Message 2 of 14 08 April 2015 at 5:53pm | IP Logged | ||
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Proficiency in a foreign language (even a "useful" one) on its own doesn't mean much. However in combination with some other set of skills or experience, it can make the difference between being hired or not, or even just getting an interview or not.
Of course, it's also true that it's not always what you know, but whom you know. I've never been contacted professionally based on my interest in languages. Getting a cold call/email for a "job opportunity" runs the gamut from being pestered by a two-bit headhunter (or God forbid an acquaintance trying to recruit you for some scheme like Arbonne) to some friend of a friend (of a friend) who's looking for people to fill a position in which I do have a decent chance at succeeding. 5 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Clarity Groupie United States Joined 3524 days ago 85 posts - 107 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 3 of 14 09 April 2015 at 3:53am | IP Logged | ||
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Well, it seems a shame that these organizations aren't knocking at your door. (Though maybe people prefer it this way?) I'm certainly impressed by the brain power and motivation it takes to learn and maintain multiple languages. When I was in college, there was a scholarship program sponsored by the U.S. Department of State for students who wanted to learn "critical languages" as the need was so great. And now that I think about it, many of you are already fluent in several of them. Maybe the world just doesn't know about the goldmine that is HTLAL?
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| tarvos Super Polyglot Winner TAC 2012 Senior Member China likeapolyglot.wordpr Joined 4709 days ago 5310 posts - 9399 votes Speaks: Dutch*, English, Swedish, French, Russian, German, Italian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Romanian, Afrikaans Studies: Greek, Modern Hebrew, Spanish, Portuguese, Czech, Korean, Esperanto, Finnish | Message 4 of 14 09 April 2015 at 4:13am | IP Logged | ||
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I highly doubt they do. But if the Dutch government ever needs to train me as an
interpreter for missions in far-flung places, they can always find me here. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| 1e4e6 Octoglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 4292 days ago 1013 posts - 1588 votes Speaks: English*, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Norwegian, Dutch, Swedish, Italian Studies: German, Danish, Russian, Catalan | Message 5 of 14 09 April 2015 at 4:50am | IP Logged | ||
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There is also demand on part of the worker. For what position exactly do the US
Department of State or the UK Ministry of Exterior want their citizens who know other languages to do? And does a potential candidate feel comfortable being in such a work environment? Also I have no academic degree in any of my languages. I just study them for interest and use them quite often (but would definitely emigrate to one of the countries where they have it as official language), but my academic background is in mathematics, biology, and chemical engineering, all of which has close to nothing to do with languages or linguistics, or foreign diplomacy nor international relations. This might also be a problem here, that people here often study languages although they have academic backgrounds in different fields. Edited by 1e4e6 on 09 April 2015 at 4:56am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Chung Diglot Senior Member Joined 7158 days ago 4228 posts - 8259 votes 20 sounds Speaks: English*, French Studies: Polish, Slovak, Uzbek, Turkish, Korean, Finnish | Message 6 of 14 09 April 2015 at 5:29am | IP Logged | ||
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Brain power can be harnessed to do thing other than learn languages, you know. Depeding on the company or government organization, one's ability to do accounting, plumbing, bond trading, flying a passenger plane, cooking at a fine restaurant, lawyering etc. count more than being a polyglot.
Unless you're in translation, interpretation or teaching of languages, knowledge of a foreign language is typically secondary to the required skills for a given job. Moreover one isn't typically approached for a job unless one has connections. It'd a helluva reversal if say some hiring manager from a Polish company or government ministry approached me and tried to chat me up about a working at his/her company or organization. See the following for related discussion: - Job Opportunities for Linguists - Is anyone here an interpreter? - Professional Interpretation - Languages as your work - What do linguists do? - Official means of marketing language 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| tarvos Super Polyglot Winner TAC 2012 Senior Member China likeapolyglot.wordpr Joined 4709 days ago 5310 posts - 9399 votes Speaks: Dutch*, English, Swedish, French, Russian, German, Italian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Romanian, Afrikaans Studies: Greek, Modern Hebrew, Spanish, Portuguese, Czech, Korean, Esperanto, Finnish | Message 7 of 14 09 April 2015 at 5:36am | IP Logged | ||
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Yeah, I have a background as engineer too. Languages are more a travel thing for me.
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| schoenewaelder Diglot Senior Member Germany Joined 5562 days ago 759 posts - 1197 votes Speaks: English*, French Studies: German, Spanish, Dutch | Message 8 of 14 09 April 2015 at 5:14pm | IP Logged | ||
The NSA and GCHQ have got your number. And not necessarily because of your language skills. 2 persons have voted this message useful |
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