Professional Success

Knowing a foreign language will give you the edge on the job market, in career advancement, and knowledge of your discipline.

More and more employers in businesses and other fields that do work both in and outside of the U.S. are seeking employees with foreign language skills and international experience for higher level positions.

The so-called "soft skills"—including communication skills, leadership ability, ability to work in teams, and ability to work in and across foreign cultures—are becoming just as important as "hard" technical or professional knowledge. Many CEO's and managers acknowledge that technical or specialized knowledge is no longer enough to achieve success and upward mobility.

If you are working for a U.S. or foreign company overseas or for a foreign company here in the U.S., and think you can get by with English, think again! Even if meetings are conducted in English, much of the corridor talk, social life, and other discussion will take place in the other language. You'll be at a real disadvantage if you can't participate.

Knowledge of a foreign language can give you access to information in your own discipline that is not available in English. Even if foreign language texts are available in translation, your ability to read these texts in the original language will give you the edge in research and scholarship.

Global Understanding  • Personal Growth