Bilingual graduates fare better in education, business job market

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Isabel Alvarez-Sancho said it is almost necessary to be bilingual to stand out in today’s job market.

The assistant professor of Spanish studied at the undergraduate level in her native country of Spain. She wanted to get her doctorate in the U.S. and become a teacher. It was essential for her to pick up English as a secondary language.

“Everyone is getting degrees and (Masters of Business Administration degrees),” she said. “So in order to separate yourself, knowing a foreign language will help.”

The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association reports the number of bilingual speakers is projected to increase in the future.

“I never thought that knowing a foreign language would be useful when I was learning it,” she said.

Some foreign language majors can be used to break into education and business.

Grand Rapids freshman Tyler Roberts plans to be a high school teacher after he graduates. He said knowing a foreign language can give an edge in the application process.

“It could really help you get jobs over other people,” Roberts said. “It gives you an edge over someone that doesn’t know a foreign language, and allows you to be available to more customers and help you out business-wise.”

Roberts said he thinks Spanish is the most useful foreign language to know in the U.S.

A 2010 Census Bureau report found 303 languages other than English were spoken in U.S. homes and about 55.4 million U.S. homes are bilingual. There were 23.4 million more Spanish speakers in 2007 than in 1980, though Vietnamese speakers had the largest percentage increase at 511 percent during the same timeframe.

French professor Keith Palka said many students double major and use their foreign language degrees in journalism, travel and tourism, or governmental services.

Palka said knowing a foreign language is a must if students plan to work in foreign services. He said while French is not particularly useful in the U.S., the language can be useful for international travel and business.

“People that do not pick up a foreign language find themselves using a translator to communicate,” he said.

Palka said there are several options for students who aren’t in a foreign language major but want to pick up another language.

“The Berlitz School can be found in any major city, that’s where I first picked up French,” Palka said. “Sometimes your employer will pay for you to learn and there are other commercial possibilities, such as the Rosetta Stone (software instructional suite) if you can afford it.”