Learning another language to accept a job

[hades_leae]

Some people out there actually learn another language just to accept a job that pays them more money than they have ever made in their life. Some teachers can have the best lives when they move to a country where they will be paid great, living quarters taken care of, and also other great things given to them as well just to teach kids how to speak English. 

Would you learn another language just to take a job in another country?

[宇崎ちゃん]

Last year I hoped to improve my chances to get employed when I maybe move to Japan next year, but after 4 years of failing at getting a job here in the Netherlands, I think it'll be better to set up a company there instead.
That would still require me to know Japanese (and maybe Korean and Chinese too, depending on my customers) on a fairly advanced level, so me giving up on finding employment doesn't mean I'll give up on learning the language.

My purpose of learning language has never been job-related any way.

[Baburra]

I think people who end up successful using this method already have interest in the particular language or culture to begin with because otherwise I think it becomes much more challenging so much so that it may be considered more worth it to just pursue something else that would have as much returns for the same amount of work. That said I guess it probably has been done before but I think in most cases you really have to consider the other benefits as a secondary reward to just learning the language itself. 

[lingvo]

I think any motivation is valid, and if I have to learn a language to improve my current situation, then I'll go all in in learning that language regardless how uninteresting it can be for me. Therefore my answer is yes, I would learn a language to accept a job or study abroad.

[Lingua Franca]

I think if they are just doing it for the money might not end up doing very well. If there isn't a genuine interest in the language the person will only learn the bare minimum, but I guess it's better then nothing. 

[darkchild]

If the pay is super good, it would highly motivate me to put all things aside to learn a language.

The key word here is motivation; if you are motivated by a huge trophy at the end of the race, then the race is worth taking.

[Norm A]

I definitely would if the pay would make it worth my while. That is as good a reason as any to learn a new language and I know there are many people whose main motivation for learning a new language is so that they can get a better job somewhere else. 

[lushlala]

Wow, that would be a great incentive to learn a language. However, realistically speaking, I don't think I'd be able to learn enough to be where I needed to be in time to take up the job. I think I'd personally feel a bit more comfortable and confident if I'd learnt the language prior to seeing the advert, and I was merely needed to brush up on my language skills. Imagine how awkward things could get if you became completely unstuck right in the middle of say, a board meeting LOL

[fcuco]

If not for getting the actual job, simply being fluent in another language looks good on any resume, even if the secondary language has nothing to do and offers nothing to your profession or job the fact that you took the time to learn a new language says a lot about yourself, namely, that you are disciplined and can acquire new skills.

Learning a different language can even allow you to secure a better job right there in your home country, specially for larger multi national corporations that usually pay better Imagine applying for a job at your local site for a Japanese company and being able to speak Japanese, this will put your resume at the top of the pile right away by the simple fact that you could communicate with their main site at Japan more easily.

Learning a second language is one of the best investments that you can make in terms of your worth as an employee and career wise.

[gracerph]

On 30/07/2016 at 3:58 PM, hades_leae said:

Some people out there actually learn another language just to accept a job that pays them more money than they have ever made in their life. Some teachers can have the best lives when they move to a country where they will be paid great, living quarters taken care of, and also other great things given to them as well just to teach kids how to speak English. 

Would you learn another language just to take a job in another country?

My cousin is a specific example of someone who studied a language for a job opportunity. She was an English teacher for Koreans here in our country and when the opportunity for a higher salary and a teaching job in South Korea was offered to her, she didn't hesitate to learn the Korean language and accepted the offer. She's almost 10 years in South Korea now and she's staying there for good because her husband also lives there.

As for me, yes, I would try learning another language if it is required for me to get a job. I always consider new learning as an opportunity for me to grow as a person so even if it's not for a job, I would still consider learning any new language if I would be given the chance to.

[111kg]

A lot of people are doing this in my field. Basically, once they get in the clinical years and closer to graduation of the medical school, a lot of future doctors start learning German or other west European languages so they could work as doctors once they finish the school. A doctor in a small part of Germany, for instance, can easily earn up to 6000 Euros, while the average salary of a resident here is only 300 Euros.

[lushlala]

@Ghostwriter....wow, that's certainly a huge incentive for which to learn a foreign language! I don't believe how big of a difference there is in salary. I mean, I do and I don't, if that makes sense. I think even people who would normally not have much of an interest in learning a new language would soon see things differently, once presented with those prospects. I bet it doesn't just stop with the lucrative wage, it must also mean a wider range of perks. Good work if you can get it....well, once you've armed yourself with those language skills!

[wolfette]

I would if it was a country I wanted to live in and felt I could be at home in. For example, I wouldn't learn a language like Greek just for a job, because Greece isn't somewhere I'd particularly like to go. But Italian or French I would be willing to consider learning for a job. First and foremost though I'd learn because I want to learn the language and would actually get to use the language regardless of whether I went there or not. 

[Rooks57]

I wouldn't mind learning another language for work.  I'm kind of doing that but indirectly.  I want to take a year off to travel and paint, but I plan on selling the paintings for more than I'm getting for my illustrations right now.  But mostly, I like learning languages just for fun.  Though, I don't think it's a bad thing for people to learn a foreign language sometimes just that skill can allow people to upgrade their life and open them up to new opportunities.

[Rafael]

I think it's always an advantage to learn a new language to get hired. Aside from learning the language itself, you also learn about the culture of people. Btw, I've checked out this site: www.eqqui.com, a platform where you can use your language talent and create your resume. It's just free. Anyway, just sharing. Thanks!

[babelle]

A lot of people are doing that and I too would take time to learn a language for a great job opportunity. In Germany, for instance, they are in need of ICU nurses who can speak German so a lot of nurses would want to get a certification for proficiency in German just to get those high paying jobs. It's really no different from learning a technical skill to land a job.

[Bokyy]

Learning another language is a great way to increase your incomes. Many companies from different parts of our planet have high demands for bilingual people. So that can be a nice opportunity, beside many other positive things that go together with the knowledge. But if you decide to learn from zero, you must have in a mind that it is very long and difficult process, and you will need a lot of time and patience to complete it successfully. But at the end, you will realize, it was worth the effort.  

[gmckee1985]

I'd definitely recommend learning another language if it's something that you have a genuine interest in. If it's something you're doing just to make more money, you're probably not going to take it as seriously as you need to in order to be effective at speaking and understanding the language. If you're generally interested, companies are definitely interested in hiring folks who can communicate in languages other than English. We live in a global economy, so that's one skill that's in high demand these days. It'll definitely give you a leg up and help you boost your income over your peers.

[MichaelJacob]

A lot of my family memebers have done this, I think if the job is good enough for you to learn that certain language or if you live in that county and kind of have to then yes. This actually happened to me, I was born and raised in the United States and when I was 16 I had to move with my parents to mexico, and I had to learn better Spanish to get a job there so I did learn and I got the job but quit after about a year because I came back to the States. So yes in some situations I do think it's necessary to learn a language to get a certain job. 

[LeesaJohnson]

I think one should learn another language to accept the better job opportunity. There is nothing wrong in it. 

[Lingua Franca]

On 01/08/2016 at 10:09 AM, darkchild said:

If the pay is super good, it would highly motivate me to put all things aside to learn a language.

The key word here is motivation; if you are motivated by a huge trophy at the end of the race, then the race is worth taking.

I most certainly agree with you having something to chase can be a great motivator. I think sometimes the only reason people don't learn more languages is because they don't have a good reason to do so.

[takibari]

Off the top of my head, I don't think it will work for me. While a higher pay is always a good motivator, I highly doubt it can sustain my interest in learning the language. At least, I don't think I'll start off the language learning journey because of the goal to land a job. However, my response would be different if I'm already part of a company and in the course of my employment with that company a necessity arise and language learning becomes part of my responsibility, I think I can rise up to the challenge when needed. I would want to learn the language to keep the job I already love, hehe.