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Foreign languages as a means of competiti | ||
Tags: Jobs | Foreign Languages | ||
 Language Learning Forum : Languages & Work |  | |
| Sornette Tetraglot Newbie France Joined 4359 days ago 3 posts - 3 votes Speaks: French*, English, German, Russian Studies: Spanish | Message 1 of 16 31 January 2013 at 12:20pm | IP Logged | |||||
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I need to write an article which theme is: « foreign languages as a means of competitive specialist successful career ». I’d like to gather ideas and opinions about it.
Is a second language very important for your work? If you speak several other languages, is it definitely a “plus” in your career? Did it make a difference when applying for a job? I mean for other jobs than those directly related to languages, like teaching languages, or translations, or working as a receptionist in a hotel. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| renaissancemedi Bilingual Triglot Senior Member Greece Joined 4139 days ago 941 posts - 1309 votes  Speaks: Greek*, Ancient Greek*, EnglishC2 Studies: French, Russian, Turkish, Modern Hebrew | Message 2 of 16 31 January 2013 at 12:41pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Of course it makes a difference. It's a definite plus for all jobs. Especially in Greece, with all the tourists and everything. It's also a common perception here, that the person who speaks many languages is cultured. Perhaps a stereotype, but it does exist.
2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
 newyorkeric Diglot Moderator Singapore Joined 6160 days ago 1598 posts - 2174 votes Speaks: English*, Italian Studies: Mandarin, Malay Personal Language Map | Message 3 of 16 31 January 2013 at 12:44pm | IP Logged | |||||
So if I apply for a job driving a garbage truck knowing Russian or Swahili is going to help me how exactly? 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| renaissancemedi Bilingual Triglot Senior Member Greece Joined 4139 days ago 941 posts - 1309 votes Speaks: Greek*, Ancient Greek*, EnglishC2 Studies: French, Russian, Turkish, Modern Hebrew | Message 4 of 16 31 January 2013 at 12:54pm | IP Logged | |||||
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I understand your point, and I admit I was thinking with my country and myself in mind. However I firmly believe that anything we know adds to our abilities one way or another. Even if it simply means making us feel better about ourselves, which is a good thing to have even if you are applying for a job driving a garbage truck.
In my (former...) job, nobody said that I absolutely needed an extra foreign language, other than English. But being a teller in a bank, in the biggest port of Greece, gave me the opportunity to use everything I know. And yes, it was a plus for me in comparison to my other colleagues. Edited by renaissancemedi on 31 January 2013 at 1:23pm 4 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Nuuskamuikkunen Triglot Newbie Finland Joined 4097 days ago 21 posts - 43 votes Speaks: Finnish*, Polish, English | Message 5 of 16 31 January 2013 at 1:27pm | IP Logged | |||||
By telling your potential employer something positive about yourself. Knowledge of foreign languages is often associated with a bunch of favorable tracts in potential workers, regardless of field of work: intelligence (*we* know it's easy to learn languages, but not all employers do...), diligence and last-but-not-least, curiosity about the world around you. And no, I have never had to choose between applicants for garbage truck drivers, so the above may be wrong. On a side note, they say - is it true? - that having an overqualified CV can actually harm your job search. Edited by Nuuskamuikkunen on 31 January 2013 at 1:29pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| newyorkeric Diglot Moderator Singapore Joined 6160 days ago 1598 posts - 2174 votes Speaks: English*, Italian Studies: Mandarin, Malay Personal Language Map | Message 6 of 16 31 January 2013 at 2:27pm | IP Logged | |||||
Lol, all the traits that people look for in a garbage man... 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Ogrim Heptaglot Senior Member France Joined 4420 days ago 991 posts - 1896 votes Speaks: Norwegian*, English, Spanish, French, Romansh, German, Italian Studies: Russian, Catalan, Latin, Greek, Romanian | Message 7 of 16 31 January 2013 at 2:30pm | IP Logged | |||||
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I'll be more specific as I have no specific knowledge of the qualifications required to drive a grabage truck. (In any case I don't have a truck driver's license.)
For me personally knowing foreign languages has been essential. I got my first job after university in a government department thanks to my languages, since the job was related to international co-operation. I then got a job in Brussels where English was a must and French very important. Currently I work in an international organisation with English and French as official languages, so one should be able to work in both. Other languages are a huge advantage as well. Russian in particular is a big plus. So although I have never worked in a directly language-related job, foreign languages have been an integral and important part of my career path. Edit: I also wanted to comment on this one, since I work in HR:
That really depends on the job and the company, but yes, for certain jobs it is a disadvantage. However, in the current economic climate, at least here in Europe, a lot of overqualified people apply for almost any kind of job. I don't think that having many languages can be considered as being overqualified though. It is more a question of whether languages are relevant for the job or not. Being overqualified is more about a mismatch between a person's qualifications and experience and what is required for doing the job. Edited by Ogrim on 31 January 2013 at 4:41pm 3 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Марк Senior Member Russian Federation Joined 4837 days ago 2096 posts - 2972 votes Speaks: Russian* | Message 8 of 16 31 January 2013 at 6:10pm | IP Logged | |||||
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I don't think languages add much in general. English is needed in many fields (not only
at work) but not in all the fields of course. Certain foreign languages are needed in certain situations. But in general it's practically nothing, otherwise immigrants would have an advantage over citizens. English is in a special position in Russia. One can always find a job with English, giving private lessons. 2 persons have voted this message useful |
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