<p>if yes, which languages would be most beneficial?</p>
<p>I have taken spanish 3, but don't really remember much...</p>
<p>Assuming you plan on living and working in the U.S., taking a foreign language will not be beneficial. Even if you work with people outside the U.S., most people do possess a working knowledge of English. </p>
<p>I've worked with fellow students in India and Finland and in both countries, English was the primary language.</p>
<p>At most engineering jobs it would make no difference. However, some projects are now becoming international and a foreign language could be useful - but still not required. I am familiar with projects where the following languages are used: Spanish, Italian, German, Japanese, Korean, even Russian! In most cases, the employees at foreign companies speak English reasonably well. Only in the case of temporary assignments abroad is your ability to speak a language other than English usually considered.</p>
<p>English is the language to know.</p>
<p>Knowing a language would be benificial to anyone. I would say Spanish, Chinese, Arabic, and Japanese would be the best ones to learn.</p>
<p>When engineering companies send employees abroad for some length of time (eg, to live for a couple of years to get a project going), they often really like their people to blend into the culture and speak the language. If this is desirable and employees refuse to speak the language, etc, they are really hurting their careers.</p>
<p>"Knowing a language would be benificial to anyone. I would say Spanish, Chinese, Arabic, and Japanese would be the best ones to learn."</p>
<p>I agree with the 1st sentence. Knowing a language can certainly be beneficial to anyone, but there are likely more useful things you could learn instead. Things like management, expanding technical expertise etc. are things that probably have a higher return on investment.</p>
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I agree with the 1st sentence. Knowing a language can certainly be beneficial to anyone, but there are likely more useful things you could learn instead. Things like management, expanding technical expertise etc. are things that probably have a higher return on investment.
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<p>This is more of the point I'm making. Learning a foreign language well enough to communicate with others in it is a huge time commitment. Knowing another language will not help you get you a job unless you know that your company has or plans to have work abroad. </p>
<p>If you want to learn a language for reasons other than employment, then by all means go for it.</p>
<p>Personally, I took two years worth of spanish, and don't remember a thing. I consider learning a language useless when your an american. Learning a language is for people who want to do business with us. Not for us to do business with them. Hopefully, it stays that way.</p>