Using languages as your career is very doable, however, be warned: in terms of time spent versus expected increase in income, languages are not particularly efficient, and are notably worse than something like a programming language. For this reason, while there is an expected increase in income for the right type of work, people learning languages for careers are generally not doing it just for the money. The people who are learning a language purely for monetary reasons are usually already in a specific career that for some reason requires skill in a language to advance.
There are plenty of non-monetary reasons to learn a language for your career, however. You may also be learning a language because you have a specific career in mind that needs them, or you may love languages so much you want to use them more, and work is a good avenue.
Knowing a language:
– Opens specific career paths otherwise closed to most people
– Allows you to do your job in a foreign country
– Can be useful in other more general fields such as marketing and the service or tourism industry
– Provides a useful signal that potential employers can use to gauge your intelligence
First, a few things to note:
Certain fields want cultural awareness as much as they want language skills, particularly in diplomacy.
If you want to use your language in business, it takes a high level of proficiency (somewhere around C1 or above) to be capable in that environment.
You can always “use” a language in your career by moving to the country where it is spoken, however, see the above point.
If you are in a foreign country, there is a chance of working in an English speaking environment, such as for a multinational company that uses English or as an English teacher, but this approach is not high immersion.
There is a range of careers in which proficiency in a foreign language is either a requirement or advantageous:
1) English teacher
Difficulty: Low – you can get away with a minimal teaching qualification.
Language requirements: Flexible – many schools do not require you to know anything but English. Knowing many foreign languages not considered to help your career.
Career prospects: English is in high demand in many places, so there is no shortage of work.
Salary prospects: Low to medium – relative to local salaries, English teachers can be paid well, depending on location. However, compared to salaries in developed countries, pay is not high.
Lifestyle: Unless you’d like to become a proper teacher and work with foreign students or refugees, you need to move to a foreign country.
2) Translator
There are two main types of translation work, written and spoken (interpreting). The spoken variety is typically much more strenuous.
Difficulty: Medium-high – translating documents is less tough, however interpreting can be very difficult and requires study and practice.
Language requirements: High – requires a high proficiency, likely in multiple languages, depending on job.
Career prospects: Translation is highly competitive, so work should not be taken for granted.
Salary prospects: Variable, around medium.
Lifestyle: Depends on the work you do. Some types of freelance work are highly flexible.
3) Diplomat
Difficulty: Hard – can be difficult field to break into.
Language requirements: Moderate – knowing a language of diplomatic importance to your country is beneficial.
Career prospects: Has a set career path.
Salary prospects: Medium – variable.
Lifestyle: One of the more interesting jobs out there. Will most likely require you to move overseas. You may not necessarily get your first choice of posting, so don’t go in expecting to head straight for Paris.
4) Intelligence Analyst
Several countries actively recruit speakers of specific foreign languages to translate and interpret foreign intelligence.
Difficulty: Unknown – depends on what you do.
Language requirements: High – often requires high proficiency. Other forms of intelligence analysis do not require languages at all, so any amount may help.
Career prospects: Has a set career path. Skills are partially transferable to other industries but generally workers spend a long time within the industry.
Salary prospects: Medium – variable.
Lifestyle: One of the more interesting jobs out there. Allows you to use languages daily. Be advised you will probably be unable to talk about what you do, which people can find isolating.
5) Other government advisory roles
It is impossible to cover the full range of roles potentially available to you. Diplomacy and intelligence are simply two of the most easily identifiable career paths. Your government will also likely have roles in a variety of areas pertaining towards policy towards certain countries in which language and cultural knowledge will be an advantage. Beware that you may find yourself competing with natives from the countries concerned.
Consider learning big languages and languages in zones of conflict such as Chinese or Arabic if geopolitics is a career path that interests you.
6) Tourism or services industries
There is a range of possible roles in this area, mostly pertaining to providing services to tourists or to portions of the population with a different primary language. You may find that in your area knowledge of a language is not as beneficial as you think, since many foreigners go to an English-speaking country not expecting to receive services in their language. This can heavily depend on your area, however, so do your own research and do not rely on a small wiki article to direct your career.
Difficulty: Easy-medium – depends on what you do.
Language requirements: Medium to high.
Career prospects: Highly dependent. Does not have an obvious career progression.
Salary prospects: Low-medium – again, do your own research here.
Lifestyle: Potentially allows you to live on your own country and use a language daily.
Here are a few more careers you might like to think about:
– Linguistics or language professor
– Historian
– Working in the field of development or humanitarian aid
In addition, there are a range of other jobs and roles that can give you opportunities to practice your language/s, though the job may not require it.
– Working on a cruise ship or similar
– Being a tour guide – you’ll likely have conversations from people all over the globe
– Being an airline steward
– Working in a service role at an airport
– Working in a hostel in a city
– Peace Corps
– Managing an international-student dormitory at a university
– Freelance development or any job you can do remotely – this could let you live in the country of your choice
