Although English is an international language, that doesn’t mean you can or should escape learning a second language. Having another language on your resume greatly improves your job prospects, travel options, and general ability to excel in a globalized economy. It also helps you to be open to multiculturalism and have better expression and articulation skills. Due to geographic location and increasing immigration in America, Spanish is often seen as the American go-to language for second-language learning. If you haven’t started learning Spanish yet, here are a few situations that will make you realize you should have started a long time ago.
- When Job-Hunting
Having Spanish on your resume doesn’t just look good; it’s often actually a required part of the job. Whether it’s because you need to travel on the job or because you might need to work with Spanish-speaking clients, many business, government agencies, and law firms now require you to know an International language, and many will actually specify that your international language is Spanish.
- When You Want to Communicate
Whether you’re in the Deep South, out West, or really, anywhere, you’re likely to find a group of Spanish speakers near you. If you want to be able to communicate and be friends with people in your community who may not have the same background as you, it’s really just easiest if you can understand them. Knowing others’ language is a great way to bridge connections across cultural boundaries, and it also helps welcome new people into your community.
- When Your Kids Learn it in School
The classic image of parenting is of helping kids with homework, but it’s a little hard to do that if you know nothing about the subject they need help with. If you already know Spanish, it’ll help encourage your kids when they’re struggling, but it will also build up their conversation skills because they’ll be able to practice with you at home.
- When You Travel
This one’s a given, but it’s still important. Most people love the idea of traveling, but it can be really difficult and frustrating when you realize the world doesn’t revolve around the English language.
- When Flirting with a Spanish-Speaker
When you’re at a bar and you spot a hottie, it’s only natural to want to go up and make some chemistry happen. How devastating and potentially embarrassing for you and for them when you find out you can’t even understand each other enough to flirt, let alone date. Talk about a mood killer and a confidence breaker. Although seemingly out of your ordinary routine, learning a second language does enable you to speak with a new world full of people, and what better way to use your skills than to try it out on someone you like?
