I really want to learn a completely new language in college. I’m interested in German, Arabic, and Mandarin. German would be the easiest to learn (and I like that one the best) but I’m gravitating more toward Arabic and Mandarin just because they’re probably more desirable in the job market.
I’m planning to take an international relations route in college and go to law school. Would any of these languages be great, or does one stick out as more important to know in this day and age?
It all depends what you plan to do for work. If I were suggesting a language…I would suggest Spanish.
It depends on the type of job. How valuable knowledge of the language is depends on how much business the employer does with speakers of that language relative to the number of speakers of that language the employer can hire. E.g. Spanish is used in many countries that US employers may do business in (including the US itself), but US employers may find that there are lots of heritage speakers of Spanish to hire, so knowledge of Spanish would not necessarily make you stand out among applicants.
I think that there are a lot of heritage speakers of Mandarin and Spanish in this country. I don’t think there are too many opportunities for German - and most Germans speak excellent English, so I lean towards Arabic with the caveat that it is a very difficult language, you should count on needing to spend some time in an immersion program with a language pledge if you want to get good enough to have real conversations with people. The problem with Arabic is that no one actually speaks Modern Standard Arabic (aka Media Arabic) so you actually need to learn that plus at least one other local dialect.
My son just graduated from Tufts in IR with Arabic as his language. He’s job hunting now looking for NGO work. So far Arabic has not been a big plus. (Maybe it would be different if he wanted to work for the CIA.)
I agree with all the points above.
Keep in mind that the amount of time that you would need to invest in either Mandarin or Arabic to become even somewhat proficient is enormous. In terms of either language helping for a job, unless it’s one that requires govt clearance, the odds are the employer will seek a native Mandarin/Arabic speaker with ESL skills rather than a native-English speaker.
If your plans are to seek a job in the US, your best bet is to learn a language used by many immigrants in the area in which you wish to settle.
German. Germany is the economic engine of the European Union. Few American students take German, and there are few American heritage speakers.
I’m an American expatriate who has worked numerous foreign postings. The most in demand language in all the countries I have worked is English.
Echoing others- it depends on what you want to do.
If you want to work in international health, for example, French and German are valuable.
If you want to work in technology then Mandarin or German.
If you want to do development work, Arabic or German.
If you want to do domestic work, Spanish is very valuable.
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It also depends on where you live or plan to live. In certain parts on New England, French would be important. In some cities, there are large African immigrant populations and Swahili would open the door to certain jobs. Spanish is prettty wide spread in the US.
That said, my niece was a triple major in college and had profs begging her to switch from education to international relations with her Spanish and French background. So once again, it all depends on where you are.
In theory, foreign languages should be very valuable, but are rarely valued correctly. GMT’s post might have been a tad tongue-in-cheek, but it hits the mark. The biggest demand is for people to communicate adequately in English, and that is NOT necessarily obvious abroad or … right here.
Niche languages might offer the best ROI for particular carers, but do not expect it to have a great impact, and especially not for anyone who is several notches below complete fluency. Few people, except heritage speakers, rarely reach that level. Spending a couple of months in Guanacaste does not make anyone fluent in Spanish. Same think with a semester or year abroad in Paris. To make a difference, one has to be at the translator level of fluency.
Fwiw, the comment about German being a language for “development” jobs is silly. Germany might me an export machine, but they do not export the Deutsch uber alles requirement. They adapt to the local requirements and excel at it. Unless one believes the Ruhr basin is an area in development, it makes no sense. On the other hand, German is helpful in scientific matters.
Mandarin would be helpful to start at Starbucks and … hope to climb the management ladder.
Unfortunate double negation above. Few people reach the level of full fuency.
Mandarin. And as for French being necessary in certain parts of New England, having lived in places from the Canadian border down to Boston, I’d agree with that only if you spend a lot of time in Quebec, but it’s not at all usefull south of the border.
I don’t think German is particular valuable for science any more. My husband got a PhD in bio-physics and did a postdoc in Germany. His lab there assured him that he didn’t need any German because the very international group of students spoke English at the lab. That wasn’t quite true and my husband was smart enough to squeeze in a summer of German from the local community college before we went. (I’d had two years of college German and spent part of a summer there researching for my senior thesis.) In his field at least all the important papers are published in English.
I speak French and German - the language I really wish I spoke was Spanish. First because it would be useful for my job - I work with a lot of Hispanic immigrants with limited English skills and second because I’d love to travel to South America and much prefer traveling where I can get around in the local language.
There are actually a surprising number of French speakers in Maine, and northern NH and VT, but I don’t think any of them can’t also speak English.
If you get waaaayyyy up in northern NH (Colebrook and Berlin and north), there are a few French speakers (but very little business or industry there – Berlin is the largest town with any significant number of Francophones, and its population is under 10,000, so the possibility of CC members landing up there would be pretty slim), but the native northern New England French is actually a dialect, and it’s hard to understand even for fluent French speakers. If you know you’re going to be living in an area with a large Spanish-speaking population, then yes, Spanish would make sense, but if you’re trying to make yourself valuable to a Fortune 500 company, then focus on Mandarin. A young (Anglo) friend of mine who graduated from Penn with near fluency in Mandarin (including a semester abroad in Beijing) had multiple excellent job offers to choose from, with every one of the companies choosing her over other applicants due to her knowledge of Mandarin.
I was being dead serious. Employers want SKILLS first. They don’t need a translator-- translators are a dime a dozen.
In the many overseas non-American companies I have worked for, business is conducted in English. Even the local staff who are hired at US embassies and at multinational companies have to be proficient in English.
Unless u have professional level proficiency where u can write, present and debate on a sophisticated level in that language, speaking ersatz, incomprensible mandarin that’s started in college is not at all useful to an employer.
FYI
NYT Nicholas Kristoff
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/30/opinion/30kristof.html?_r=0
Probably most useful on a personal level, unless your intended profession involves interaction with the public (e.g. health care fields like nurse, physician, dentist, etc., or any emergency service like police, fire, ambulance, or dispatcher of these), in which case, it could certainly be useful on a professional level.
It depends on what you wanna do and where you wanna live. If you are moving to the Dakotas, Spanish will not be very helpful. If you move to California, Spanish will be very useful.