Thanks for the replies. I’ve taken 6 years of Spanish (all through middle and high school) so it just lost its “coolness” to me. Based on this info employers value native speakers anyway, so I think I’ll study the language that appeals to me most on a personal level: German.
I’ve applied to jobs that value a Spanish speaker. They don’t care about nativity, they care about skills and the bilingualism is a bonus.
^^ it depends on the employer and the level and quality of the language skills. Some jobs might require nothing else than the type of fluency picked up in a study abroad program or a couple of labs in college. Others might actually require deeper bilingual abilities.
Most Anericans are not able to perceive the differences! Here are a couple of contributions from people who THINK they are bilingual
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/27/10-funny-translations-spanish-english_n_2774588.html
Canadian French is a very different language than Parisien French…very different!
Colonies have been known to bastardize the original languages, the Brits probably still think we did the same. Should I have written bastardise? 
The biggest differences appear in the colloquial language where strange constructions are the norm.
FWIW. Both DDs have worked jobs where speaking a foreign language (Spanish) was what got them in the door. D! is a therapist who works for an agency with a focus on the Hispanic community, so Spanish is essential to the job. D2 is an IR type who won her internship at a US Embassy abroad partially because of strong Spanish skills. Not native speakers, but D1 is pretty fluent and D2 speaks, writes, researches and presents in Spanish in her academic life. In the long run moving up in these careers depends on a lot more than language skills. However, when you are at the start it may be the thing that gets you in the door.
That said, I am a big fan of study what you love - so go for German.
This is entirely anecdotal, but I know of one recent grad who was a double major in Engineering and German, and he was snapped up by Siemens at a terrific starting salary. Bright kid, and perhaps his Engineering aptitude was enough, but I don’t think it is any coincidence that he was hired by Siemens…
Spanish, Mandarin, Arabic, Russian and French must be the strongest choices for the English-speaking student. German is far behind, in the same category as Japanese and Italian (nice, but without broad usefulness).
D is nearly fluent in Spanish and wants to start another language in college. She was thinking Arabic if offered. What kind of opportunities/employers would be looking for someone with that language knowledge? Her long term goal is FBI/criminology oriented but could change at any time. Her majors will most likely be biochemistry and/or computer science with a minor in either Arabic or Latin American studies. Pretty much all over the place lol.
I don’t agree that you need native/translator fluency to be valuable to an employer. It depends on the job and the industry. In a client contact position, solid conversational skills can be a big plus.
Again, it depends on the job and the expectation of the employer. There are numerous jobs where an additional language can be helpful, but not necessarily essential. For instance, many nurses and even doctors speak more than one languages. Chances are that it makes no difference in their career and pay.
Some company might be happy to have imperfect but close enough communications. Others will frown upon emails or advertising that causes concerns or sarcasm. Some accept how “pochos” speak in the Southwest and others are deeply irritated by phrases like Llámame patras for call me back.
Being able to read El Pais, Le Monde, or Die Welt is useful. Understanding their nuances correctly and being able to communicate with the appropriate syntax and spelling more remarkable. Not an easy feat!
There is no black on white.
Since my son is sitting right beside me, I asked him what he had to say on the subject of language knowledge. He says that unless you speak it fluently - very little. He’s very comfortable in conversational Arabic, but despite taking six semesters of Arabic at Tufts, one summer in Jordan, and an intensive immersion program fall junior year and another less intensive program spring junior year, he’d be the first to tell you he’s a long way from fluent. If he’d gotten a critical language fellowship for a post-grad year, or had decided to work in Jordan for a year to achieve that fluency he might be looking for other jobs.
He did send an Arabic writing sample for at least one job he applied for (didn’t get an interview) - he didn’t attempt to make it better than what he’s capable of producing - he thought it would be far too stressful to have a job where his Arabic wasn’t really as good as what they wanted.
He’s currently interviewing for various NGO jobs having had a nice internship in the fall.
I speak fluent German and have never found any use for it, except for when my husband did a postdoc in Germany I was able to work in an architectural firm there. I did get an interview once with a firm that was doing some work in Germany - but the truth is I wasn’t interested in the kind of hours and travel that was going to required with a baby at home. Ended up getting something part time which was really more in line with what I wanted. So it’s not that Germany is of no use, but you’d have to go looking for those few jobs where it will be of use.
True. Arabic is one of the harder languages/language groups for English natives. It’s a much more realistic goal to achieve fluency in four years in a Germanic or Romance language than in Arabic or an East Asian language.
Come on, Mathmon, are you really saying you have not incorporated gems like “Fingerspitzengefühl” during the cocktail hour?
I truly admire the people who embark on a journey to learn languages such as Mandarin, Arabic, or Japanese. My languages were “deeded” to me and came without meaningful efforts. I spoke more languages before kindergarten than I do now as I completely forgot Dutch. The reality is that it still requires a lot of work to move to the level of fluency that might be recognized abroad. Despite growing up with a number of languages and living/working for several years in a foreign country, the ability to WRITE fluently is still a moving target. Conversing over lunch with the foreign counterparts might be easy, reading their emails also, but answering without deep thinking and google is way hard. Just think how you react to essays or posts by students from foreign countries! One might consider them exhibits of fluency and other might see them as lacking on many fronts.
Of course, this level of granularity has little to do with the original question about the demand by employers. The safest answer is that the most used languages in the US should be more in demand. The niche markets of Arabic or Mandarin might have more specific demands, and should be quite limiting. Yet, that is where one might the better rewards. The situation is different from many countries: the answer is easy with a good knowledge of English being the ticket as second or third language. We, in the US, are not lucky!
I think that this subject is one that exemplifies why the plural of anecdotes is not data. I am sure that there many stories that would belie the opinion that foreign languages do not matter than much. Again, some would point correctly to the attending medical forces that can serve the growing number of immigrants in the US as a plus. But then, do those immigrants really get many rewards for being bilingual? The answer is that YMMV!
The last element to consider is the level of investment needed. What are the returns of majoring in a foreign language? That might be a total different issue that learning a language through a couple of classes or trips or … becoming addicted to Duolingo.
C#
California - Spanish ! ! !
I think there is over 1 billion people in China. Lots of them would know English better than your child would know Mandarin. I don’t see value in trying to compete.
Arabic, if I understand correctly, has many dialects. Which one would your child learn? Plus, I think Middle Easter society is closed, it is not easy for a westerner to do business there. Again, many Arab expats that would know both languages, have good connections, know the culture, etc.
My two cents - Spanish.
@xiggi Actually my favorite German word is “doch!” (Used for countering negative statements, English has no equivalent.)
Generally speaking most people learn the Jordanian dialect - which is pretty similar all over the Arabian peninsula or the Egyptian dialect which is what most TV shows are in and Egypt is a big important country. As you go further west towards Morocco the language gets more and more different.
Mathmom, that is indeed a gem of a word! In a distant way, the French might use the “Et pourtant” to start a rebuttal that will ultimately be in full agreement after a lengthy debate!
I do like the ja doch and nicht doch to add an even higher level of subtility! I remember being given the “explanation” of Grüß Gott by Bayern new friends in Munich. At the end of the discussion, our coach who was from Bremerhaven, told us the best replies were not “Thank you” but “Wenn ich ihn sehe” or “Hoffentlich nicht so bald”. Who said the Germans had no sense of humor or sarcasm!
Had to look it up!
“Doch” is also a little like “si” instead of “oui”, which I got corrected on almost every day for nine months when I lived in France. For some reason my German ancestry had a much easier time with “doch”. Germans definitely do humor.
oui mais non! 