This One Skill Increases Your Job Options
The more languages you know, the more employable you become
When I would fly, in the past, I resented watching the first-class passengers board. I don’t know why it was that the opening ritual boarding a plane was watching the parade of elite passengers. Often, I was in a group that was near to the last. Occasionally, my seat was also far, far away from the cabin divider making it clear no matter how bad I had to go to the bathroom, I was not good enough for the first-class passengers’ facilities.
I fly in coach and if you have read some of my material then you know I fly as a last resort. One day, I realized that I could afford my ticket because of the people we saw on board the plane first. They paid more money which made my ticket affordable. I never resented that parade again.
I learned a similar principle applies to language in the marketplace. Those who see no need to learn a second language make polyglots more employable.
Language skills in the job market
Apparently, I have an aptitude for languages. I speak English, Spanish, and Portuguese. I also know well how to learn a language at least those from the West*: learn the basics of grammar and vocabulary so that you can comprehend sentence structure and basic words, then read, listen, and when possible speak the language as much as you can. If you are on public transportation, read every advertisement available in the other language. Listen to communications both of domestic origin and from the country whose language you are studying and do all you can to master the correct pronunciation.
Many years ago, I read the book What Color Is Your Parachute? which teaches the more skills you have the more employable you become. I learned on my own if you speak another language, you just doubled your skills. My first language is English, second, in which I am fluent, is Spanish and I also read and converse in Brazilian Portuguese. So, I can speak the languages of the people in our hemisphere from Juneau, Alaska to Tierra del Fuego, Argentina with the exception of Haiti, Quebec, and French Guyana.
Those who limit their language skills to just English limit their employability, by default. If eighty people apply for the same job and only ten have good language skills in say Spanish on top of English then really the number of qualified candidates may be ten, not eighty.
I know people who live the reverse of that idea. They refuse to learn another language because they are busy enough in the one. They do not want to end up doing more work than necessary.
Successful companies understand language and cultural dynamics
Executives in companies such as Sony have the corporate philosophy that they will speak whatever language their customers speak. The salesperson who can sell in Spanish and English is going to bring in more sales than the one who only knows English.
Anyone who speaks another language knows that to grasp it fully, they have to think in it as well. You will then also understand the culture better because the language and culture are many times inseparable.
Many polyglots will tell you that they actually have a different personality in each additional language that they do not have in their first language. I am relaxed when I speak Spanish in a different way than when I speak English.
My experience shows me that Latino culture is not politically correct — people say what they mean. If they call you fat in Spanish (gordo/a), it means no more than you are overweight or even obese. In English, we North Americans take the same word as an insult even if what they say is true. If you understand the difference and you are overweight, you will realize no one was insulting you. They just spoke a simple fact.
One Salvadoran man invited me to a family party and asked me not to do what North Americans do: “Chew and leave.”
Countries are as diverse as their people
Many business executives do not understand that world regions are not homogenous. Each country has its own culture. If you market to Latinos as a group you may miss your target. Salvadorans are Hispanic but they are not Guatemalans. Ecuadorans are not Mexicans, Puerto Ricans are not Cubans. Brazilians are not Hispanics but they are Latinos. They do not speak Spanish either. Many executives and assume they are all the same. That is a mistake. Just as Canadians are Americans but not of the United States. The same can apply to Europeans, Africans, and Asians. Each nation has its own culture and national identity. Do not assume they are all one group. Language skills help you to appreciate this dynamic.
I do not call Spanish speakers ‘the Spanish’ for example. I am Irish-American from Boston and a US Navy veteran. Once a group of Salvadorans asked me: “What do you English think?”
My reaction shocked me— from the deepest recesses of my being came the words: “I am not English!” Likewise, I never call Spanish speakers “the Spanish” unless they are actually from Spain.
Speaking another language is one of the greatest skills because it not only increases your ability to serve a larger customer base it also increases your ability to learn from other cultures. You not only can benefit from others in other parts of the world, you lose a sense of your culture being superior to others.
I can read the news in different languages and get a take of what is happening in the United States from an international perspective and in other parts of the world from a non-US perspective. This broadens my understanding of many issues.
As a writer, I always look for ways to portray events to the United States audience. Exploring other cultures, I often think of how to describe this in the United States.
Elements of US Culture in workplace dynamics
For example, other cultures have a different sense of law than we do. If you look carefully, US culture has a strong inclination to control. I demonstrate this by asking the audience to look at everything in their home that we use to control. I always begin by asking people to describe the formal name of that thing you use to change the channels on your TV. Often it is like a light that dawns on them as they say the words “Remote Control”. We control, even remotely, lighting, temperature, sound, security, and more. This is why Americans despise someone speaking another language in front of them, especially if they are laughing.
Another way we maintain control is through laws and their enforcement. The real issue behind the defund the police movement is a backlash from the American predisposition to be in control. The fact is control is not as strong in other cultures. Maybe because worldwide, especially among the poor, control is a luxury.
The Latino culture is not as focused on laws as the US culture for that reason. There is no money to enforce some of the laws in their countries.
When I was in Santo Domingo, I noticed a fascinating traffic pattern. Cars went one way around a rotary and motorcycles and scooters went the opposite direction. It was so prevalent I figured it was the law. My host explained that in fact no, the scooters prefer to go that opposite direction. The police did not enforce the law and left motorcyclists alone.
You can see in that incident the seeds of the culture clash that happens every day in the United States. Understanding this is also part of the marketable skills in knowing more than one language.
When someone sees others taking jobs because they speak more than one language, it is not because of the influx of immigrants, it is because they also understand the dynamics of the marketplace.
* Many Asian languages are tonal. The same word pronounced differently will have a completely different unrelated meaning. One word in Vietnamese — má — pronounced one way means mother and another way — ma — means devil. You don’t want to get those two words wrong.