<p>Im a college freshman and right now I have a decent knowledge of Spanish. I like Spanish and living in CA its obviously been useful. However, its not like my knowledge of Spanish is very unique. I really want to do study abroad, but the thing is I want to do study abroad in China (for about 3 months). I plan on taking some Chinese language courses, but since I will be starting fresh, by the time I graduate grad/law school Ill only have a limited knowledge of Chinese. Would me knowing Chinese (even if its not that much), be any worth to employers? Would sticking with Spanish be a better idea, even though I have no desire to live in a Spanish speaking country?</p>
<p>P.S. I hope to go into law, business, consulting, politics, related fields.</p>
<p>It depends on where you’re planning to live after you graduate and begin a career. Here in South Florida, it pretty much* is* a Spanish speaking country. If you went into any of the career fields that you mention in your post, a high level of fluency in Spanish would be a huge asset. Chinese? Not so much. Unless you are planning to do business in Asia or in an Asian community in the US, I can’t see how Chinese would be much help careerwise.</p>
<p>I like the idea of Portuguese. Brazil sounds like a good place to both live and do work. However, (@patsmom) I would prefer to live in Asia. I won’t go into why as my reasons are complicated and too private for a forum, but I feel like East Asia would be a better fit for me. Also, where do you see the US job market going? The reason Im looking to learn another language is that it doesn’t seem like America/ Europe/Japan are going to see long-term recovery for a while IMO.</p>
<p>I say go for Chinese now, while you have good opportunities to begin to master it. If you need/want better Spanish in the future, you can buff up those language skills then.</p>
<p>I’ve always heard if a fellow intends to live in this country, learning to speak Spanish can be a great asset if he intends to go into management/supervision.
I’ve heard German can be helpful in more financial aspects of business.
If you have no idea what you are going to do or where you want to that makes it difficult for any of us to offer an intelligent opinion.</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice everyone!! @younghoss, I hope to go into law and if that doesn’t work out business, consulting, or something else related to that (with the job market I can’t be that picky LOL). </p>
<p>Another idea Im thinking of (and please tell if this is a bad idea because its very speculative) is to study Japan and go abroad to Japan for 3 months. I know Japan is expensive, and not known for being very foreigner friendly in terms of immigration policies. However, I wonder if Japan will open up to foreigners more since they experience a huge population decline along with a massive debt. Could Japan open up more to foreigners in an attempt to pay the debt/finance its retiree boom? (which I know will also cause inflation, so that means more high costs). Do you think my Japan idea is too much like a Rube Goldberg contraption theory to be practical right now?</p>
<p>For Japan, you should do some research on the JET program. Here is a link. [The</a> JET Programme–Official Homepage of The Japan Exchange and Teaching Programme–](<a href=“http://www.jetprogramme.org/]The”>http://www.jetprogramme.org/)</p>
<p>My kids spent 5 years living in China as expats. They all continued their Mandarin studies upon returning to the US for college (older 2) and high school (youngest). None of them are near being fluent because they are not native speakers - it’s a really tough language to become fluent in unless you live with Chinese speakers. Even while living in China they were hurt by not speaking it in our home. The best American non-native speakers I knew were those married to Asian spouses who made an effort to speak it all the time. Also remember that there are plenty of very smart Asian Americans around that you will compete with for all those business opportunities in China.<br>
But if you have your heart set on China then by all means take Mandarin - see how you are at it - whether you can speak the tones well enough to continue! My oldest and youngest both sang in choirs but one couldnt master the Mandarin tones and the other can bargain at the Shanghai markets like a native.</p>
<p>Our family has spent many hours discussing this subject. One of our Ds chose the Mandarin path, the other D chose the Spanish/Portuguese path. Personally, I don’t believe either is the “best path”. It is a very personal decision. Interest, vocational goals and personality influenced their decisions. </p>
<p>Language proficiency is a topic that is often overlooked. Three months in China and a few college courses will not result in high level scores. Three months in a Spanish speaking country and a Spanish major does not guarantee superior proficiency. Think about the time you can commit to the language and how the language might fit into your career goals. Just my two cents.</p>
<p>I am a caucasion who speaks and reads Chinese fluently and can use Chinese in a professional setting. I am married to a Chinese, although most of my Chinese proficiency was achieved before I married. I completely agree with the comments of Shanghaimom regarding the difficulty of a non-Chinese learning the language at a level where you can really use it and work in it. While I have found very interesting ways to use my Chinese, opportunities have come about because of other skills and are not as abundant as you might think. That being said, learning Chinese is a wonderful adventure if you are really passionate about it and willing to put in the time. I recommend an article titled “How Long Does it Take to Learn Mandarin” on a blog called The Lingua Franca [How</a> Long Does it Take to Learn Fluent Mandarin? | The Lingua Franca](<a href=“http://thelinguafranca.■■■■■■■■■■■■■/2008/09/14/how-long-does-it-take-to-learn-fluent-mandarin/]How”>How Long Does it Take to Learn Fluent Mandarin? | The Lingua Franca) The author has several other similar articles that give a lot of insight into this topic.</p>
<p>I speak German and French reasonably fluently (or I did once upon a time at least). I tried Chinese and was defeated by the tones. I loved learning Chinese characters, but did not find it easy at all. I knew a couple hundred once upon a time, not enough to even read a children’s book. Fluency is a funny thing. I really thought I spoke fluent German after four years in the country - most of it working in a German architectural office. Then I had a baby and learned all sorts of vocabulary that any six year old would know. That said it wasn’t a hindrance, at that point learning new vocab. was a cinch a lot of it happened by osmosis.</p>
<p>That said, I think you should follow your heart. My first college boyfriend was a Chinese studies major. He spent his junior year in Taiwan (Mainland China was barely open then.) He married a Chinese woman and has worked in international law in Hong Kong ever since. If you want it, it is certainly achievable. But Spanish is considerably easier.</p>
<p>Since the OP is seeking advice based on job opportunities:
I hope the OP knows imo there are only a tiny number of American lawyers that deal with international clients that cannot speak English. Yes, I know it exists. imo there is little need for American trained, American licensed lawyers in Aveiro.
That is true for business. Yes, int’l biz exists, but how many in “biz” need to speak a foreign language? Very few. How many American lawyers need a proficiency in Portuguese or Chinese as some have suggested here?
For the broad, undefined area of “business”, I’d think more biz courses would be more beneficial than spending time on foreign languages. I’d see it this way- if 10%(a generous %) of those in biz need to be fluent in a foreign language, then 90% don’t. More job opportunities are created by shooting for the 90% employment rather than the 10%.
It is easier to catch fish with a net than it is with a spear.</p>
<p>^I know nothing about international law, but I suspect the situation may be similar to what my dh found when he went to do a post-doctoral fellowship in Germany. He was told, “You don’t need to speak German everyone in the lab speaks English, we even do the journal club in English.” It’s true English is the language of science and the lab was about 1/3 internationals, nevertheless German was spoken all the time casually. Luckily my husband took a summer course before we went, and he picks up languages quickly. We’d have had a miserable time in Germany and missed out on really enjoying the culture if we hadn’t been fluent. Large parts of a job don’t just take place in the office/lab. There are parties, golf outings etc. Speaking a foreign language is always going to be a plus.</p>
<p>Thanks to mathmom for backing me up.
I agree a foreign language can be a plus.
But just as in Mathmom’s example, it wasn’t necessary for employment, and that is what Op says he is seeking advice on.</p>
<p>DH says that in his international travels, his colleagues generally speak English. (Korea has been the major exception in his experience.) However, he says the interesting issue is that words have different values and emotions attached to them in different countries. You can all be speaking perfect English but the words have different shades of meaning.</p>
<p>The example he gives is “responsibility” – in the US regulatory world where he works, this means an entity/group has the responsibility to make a decision happen and bears the consequences of that decision. However, he was dealing with a group of regulators from one country and to them, responsibility meant “make the decision happen” but did not mean bearing the consequences. </p>
<p>That kind of distinction isn’t something you’re going to get with four years of college language skills. It’s cultural.</p>