If you spoke six languages....

The Master

Bronze Squire
2,084
2
What kind of career options does that open up? I have a friend who has a background in education but really wants to work in a career where her love for languages is front and center. She speaks German, Russian, English, Spanish, French, and Italian. She is working on adding Asian languages right now. I know finance companies with interests in multiple countries often need translators and the more languages you have the more they like you. Any other ideas?
 

Silence_sl

shitlord
2,459
4
IMO, languages are very small points on a resume by themselves. Small enough that one can ask "Would you like fries with that?" in more than one language. The better jobs require absolute fluency at least and ability to quickly and very accurately translate on the fly, both verbally and in written form as a minimum.

Simply collecting languages isn't a really bankable skill.

Just IMO.
 

chaos

Buzzfeed Editor
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The intel field is always looking for people fluent in at least one other language.
 

Vinen

God is dead
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486
What kind of career options does that open up? I have a friend who has a background in education but really wants to work in a career where her love for languages is front and center. She speaks German, Russian, English, Spanish, French, and Italian. She is working on adding Asian languages right now. I know finance companies with interests in multiple countries often need translators and the more languages you have the more they like you. Any other ideas?
Is she truly fluent in all of them?

PS: The only useful language she knows right now is Russian if you ignore English.
 

The Master

Bronze Squire
2,084
2
She is fluent in all of them. Her father was an ambassador, she lived in these countries. She is estranged from her family so no help there, otherwise I'm sure that'd be a big resource.

@Silence: I agree, but she is fluent, both reading and writing. So.... ideas for that level of proficiency?
 

McCheese

SW: Sean, CW: Crone, GW: Wizardhawk
6,890
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Translating/Interpreting is the most obvious thing. Has she looked into translating/interpreting for the United Nations?

Also, with her background in education she could probably easily get a teaching job in a college or university, depending on her degrees. If she really is a lover of languages, she might be enjoy being part of a World Languages or Linguistics department.
 

Lanx

<Prior Amod>
60,677
132,851
she needs to be fluent in a sector like, she can't just translate words and shit, but if she was like fluent with these languages and had engineering experience, and translating both ways, that be useful.
 

Gravy

Bronze Squire
4,918
454
CIA isn't a bad option actually. But if she has skeletons, they will find them. Not necessarily a strike against her, but they'll find out about everything.
 

Vinen

God is dead
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486
Honestly, I speak 5 languages and as an American...it's almost never been an asset to me. Everyone wants to talk to me in English.
Which do you speak? I assume Wapanese given your weeaboo heritage.

Mandarin has been the most valuable to me.

Really only four useful languages.
Hindi (for avoiding the needfull), Mandarin Chinese, Arabic (For working with Terrorists) and English (For working with Fat people)
 

Vinen

God is dead
2,782
486
English, French, Dutch , Japanese(we shall forever share the shame of Titan server vinen!) , Portuguese. I also studied Farsi Mandarin and Icelandic enough to be above elementary but not close to fluent.

Just being honest, I've never been in a situation where I was like...gee...sure glad I spent all that time learning x. I'd treat language learning as a very utilitarian thing these days unless you're just a weirdo like me.
Gotta agree, my main use for Mandarin is knowing what my wife is saying when she is yelling at me... assuming she doesn't break into Shanghaiese.
 

lurkingdirk

AssHat Taint
<Medals Crew>
40,935
174,022
I speak quite a few languages, too, and it has been a huge asset to me. But I work for myself, and I deal with a lot of international agents. But I imagine there would be quite a market for someone so proficient in six languages in the travel industry - booking is a lot easier if you speak the native language, so that's a possibility. Also, banking, believe it or not. If you get into larger banking deals, so many are internationally brokered, and having a trained staff member who speaks the language of your clients is a huge bonus.
Might also look both at local colleges, universities, and even high school corporations.
 

Palum

what Suineg set it to
23,384
33,510
Languages are an ancillary trait and possible pay modifier... but there's really next to no occupations besides pure casual/non-technical translator that don't have them as simple accessories to basic skills and abilities. There's those giant corporate call centers all the major retailers/hospitality places use as a service that deal in every major language, but that's a call center job. If that's her only skill set or experience then she's probably going to have more doors closed off by that fact than opened by her ability to communicate in at a minimum 4 useless languages at any given time.
 

Gadrel_sl

shitlord
465
3
Any of the multi-national law firms would hire her as a translator. They are often looking for support staff that are multi-lingual.