ajcjobs > BlogBreak > Archives > 2006 > December > 14
Thursday, December 14, 2006
Learning another language can benefit you!
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In our changing world, speaking another language can make you more marketable and make your life more interesting. In almost any industry, being bilingual is a career asset that can make the difference among candidates for a job. International business opportunities are exploding and one day you may find your skill becoming an asset to your company.
For some reason, when my parents forced me at age 12 to take Spanish, those pathways for language were laid in my mind and I have never regretted it. I’ve developed my expertise over the years - waxing and waning at times due to lack of practice but I have always found that speaking Spanish has opened the doors to opportunities that would not have been available otherwise. I’ve also found that a wide, new world of people, culture and experience can be experienced at a far deeper level of understanding. You don’t have to choose Spanish, think of the other languages represented in the Atlanta metropolitan area.
Yes, for an adult, becoming fluent in a language can take years of study but it’s worth it. I’m always amazed when language courses are among the first to be cut in hard budgetary times in our schools. Our children need to be learning another language while their minds are still flexible and malleable. As adults, the task of learning a language becomes difficult and almost impossible unless we use it daily. As adults we have to see immediate results and receive a reward or gratification to stimulate us.
So, I encourage you, look at your industry, and imagine situations or possibilities that would make your bilingual skills an asset. Encourage your kids to take another language, demand that your college age offspring take language courses while they have the study-time to devote to them.
Does anyone out there agree with me? You know what they say, trilingual people speak three languages, bilingual people speak two, what do you call a person who only speaks one language? An American!
