If you're a student or have ever been one, at some point you've asked yourself the question: When am I gonna use this in real life? I could never understand how elementary statistics was going to help me with a career in publishing, or how world art history would enhance my abilities in grad school for a Ph.D. in English. However, I still needed those classes in order to graduate. There are probably few degrees that don't require one or two courses and don't really seem necessary to the students taking them. But at least one course you may have questioned the value of offers a tremendous skill with the potential to make a career out of itself: foreign language.
Knowing a foreign language and being able to speak it fluently is an amazing skill that can definitely help you along virtually any career path. And, in this case, the more the merrier. Let's face it--with technology exponentially on the rise, the world is growing smaller and smaller every day. There are entire careers dedicated to facilitating communication among people who speak different languages. In government, education, healthcare, social work, and literature, to name a few, there are countless opportunities open to people who speak more than one language.
Translators translate written materials from one language to another. This can include anything from product manuals to websites to novels to governmental edicts. Interpreters sit it on meetings between representatives, often in politics but also in other fields, who speak different languages. They must be able to speak both languages fluently enough to go back and forth between the two, so that the person they represent can both understand the other participants and be understood by them.
Although translators and interpreters often work as freelancers without job security or benefits, they are typically well-paid and can find work almost anywhere. In other fields, especially toward the public health and social welfare, multilingual skills can benefit both your coworkers and your clients. The more languages you can understand and speak, the more people you can help--and the more valuable you are as an employee.
Only took one class? Don't worry. Learning a new language can be difficult but it's definitely not impossible. There's even a pair of twins who learned one in a week! And with all the opportunities available for people with more than one language in their arsenal, it's no wonder that so many software programs for language learning have cropped up in the last three decades. Consider foreign language the one thing you can learn that will actually serve you well.
