Second Language = Career Advantage

 

 

I think it is really important, especially in a world which is so diverse and complex. You can see this in everyday New Zealand life and you can see it around the world, in the media and in people's increased expectations. This is especially true when we are trying to get jobs. Being monolingual is not enough any more if you would really like your career to blossom. There are many opportunities overseas in engineering, medicine, IT, law and other high-paying careers. The recruiters are going to be less and less interested in New Zealanders applying for jobs who 'only' speak English. A New Zealand education is a solid foundation for work in other countries - we know this because of all of our Old Boys with work overseas. Places like South America can't get enough of us - but you need a second language to be a good prospect for them. 

 

 

Including Spanish, I speak three; not all the way to fluency, but with a decent grip on them. English is my mother tongue, Spanish is from school study, and Punjabi is my parent's native language.

 

 

Since Year 9. 

 

 

A lot of people get attracted to Spanish because the language is similar to English - they have a similar alphabet to ours, with a few more characters. It's a warm, familiar language that you're likely to hear being used in a variety of media - American film and television has a lot of Spanish threaded through it because the US has such a large Hispanic population. Being able to speak Spanish also means that travel and commerce in places like South America and Europe is a real possibility. What pulled me in was the fact that I had heard through the grapevine that Spanish was a cool language and I wanted to find out whether or not that was the case for myself.

 

 

I'm considering engineering as a career choice. Earlier this year I was talking to a representative from Mighty River Power, a company that do electrical generation along the Waikato River; they're heading up a geothermal plant in Chile. It made me think that it doesn't matter if you're a lawyer or a doctor or an engineer, there are a lot of opportunities out there with a kiwi corporation - especially if you look at organisations like Fonterra. They've got a really big presence in Argentina with drystock as well as dairy. There are a lot of opportunities for someone who has studied, and who has that second language advantage.