Employment Guide: Foreign languages open opportunities

Though language study might simply have been a graduation requirement in high school, it can… Though language study might simply have been a graduation requirement in high school, it can make or break the resumés of employment-seeking hopefuls in college.

Studies and experts agree that in today’s increasingly globalized world, knowledge of a second language — or sometimes even a third — is becoming more and more appealing to employers.

“A second language is now becoming an important part of the basic preparation for an increasing number of careers,” said Cheryl Finlay, director of the Office of Student Employment and Placement Assistance.

“Having foreign language skills can provide tangible advantages in the job market. A recent study on determining which college courses had been most valuable for people working in the business world reported that graduates with foreign language skills often have an advantage over those who don’t,” she said.

Kimmy Rehak, an administrative assistant for the Less-Commonly-Taught Languages Center, or LCTL, said that studying less popular languages could also give students an edge in finding a job.

Languages like Swedish and Arabic are among some of the languages that students are looking toward to boost their employment options.

“It makes you more marketable. Not a lot of people take it. If you study it, you have an advantage,” Rehak said.

Studying more obscure languages also indicates increased recognition of the validity of those cultures, Rehak said. “When the English came, they said, ‘No. Your language is not important.’”

Offering Quechua — a South American language — does good things for the language, Rehak explained, because it means people are moving away from the mentality, “No, you learn my language.”

Pitt sophomore and Arabic student Jessica Rohan agreed with Rehak.

“We’ve gotten a deserved reputation for being American-centered,” she said, adding that studying a less common language can “foster international understanding.”

The English Language Institute at Pitt works to promote more communication between students who study LCTL and the exchange students who speak them.

The ELI — which teaches English to foreign exchange students with an intermediate understanding of English — has many programs that connect native with non-native speakers, said Rob Mucklo, marketing and activities coordinator and instructor with the ELI.

One of those programs gives students conversation partners in the language they are studying. Typically, the partners — one a native speaker learning English, the other an English speaker studying a foreign language — will spend one hour of their meetings in English and the other in the foreign language.

Mucklo said that every language department is invited to participate.

The most common languages in the conversation program are Arabic and Chinese, said Megan Stehle, ELI’s outreach coordinator.

The Modern Language Association’s most recent language survey, given in 2006, found that second language classes were up 12.9 percent from 2002 enrollment rates. Arabic and Chinese language study especially experienced growth.

Pitt has seen a similar jump, Rehak said, adding that the enrollment in Arabic classes is “higher than ever before.”

Rohan said she decided to learn Arabic because she wanted to study abroad in the Middle East. A global studies major, she signed up for the class even though she’d already filled Pitt’s language requirement in high school.

Finlay said that students who study abroad in addition to persuing language studies also see an advantage.

“We have noticed that having foreign language skills, in addition to studying overseas, has helped recent graduates secure opportunities abroad,” she said.

Arabic is just another language for Rohan, who has studied Spanish for seven years in addition to one semester of Irish Gaelic. She said she might study French next year, after getting back from the Middle East.

Although Rohan said her language accomplishments will make her “marketable towards anywhere in the world,” there was also a more personal reason for the foreign language study.

Rohan is Irish, and she said that was what compelled her to learn Irish Gaelic.

Rehak said that most people who learn Irish Gaelic do so out of “heritage pride.”

Pitt offers classes and programs in Chinese, French, German, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Slovak and Spanish.

The Less-Commonly-Taught Languages Center has classes in American Sign Language, Arabic, Aymara, Hindi, Hungarian, Icelandic, Irish Gaelic, Modern Greek, Persian (Farsi), Quechua, Swahili, Swedish, Turkish, Urdu, Vietnamese and Xhosa.