Would any of you ever want to learn a new language? if so which one and why? I’m interested in knowing how much impact does multi-lingual skills have on career progression.
Little point unless you are fluent/mother tongue. People from other countries learn English to progress, not the other way round. I’ve lived in 2 non-English speaking countries and my language skills are great but not fantastic. Unless you use it daily, likely a poor return on time investment. Most people in finance speak English, I hardly had to use my language skills at work.
I partially disagree - Learning a new language proves to potential employer that you are open for a better integration into the culture of the country and have an open-mind…next to learning to speak perfectly there is all the habits around. In Europe in most b. schools you have to learn another language - it’s even logical to expand the number. But to work indeed English only is enough…nevertheless if you speak the language of your counterparty in a meeting (e.g.) it’s always welcome (and they cannot f* you up :D)
The thing about languages is thatits easy to be be good at them but takes a lot of work to be near native in them. For example I speak 3 languages almost fluently, can get by in another 3 , but wouldn’t want to have to report or spend the majority of my time reading information in anything except for English. It’s just a lot more difficult. At higher levels (multinational), Business, and particularly finance, is done primarily in English so I do not think it is a prerequisite for getting ahead. I know plenty of analysts working in developing markets that cannot really speak the local lingo at anything approaching a native level and frequently not at all. Whether this will continue to be the case in the long-term is questionable. I do not think it will be - especially with global standards like the CFA leveling the playing field. Getting international experience does seem to be a sexy thing these days and I have seen many people come to developing markets, where I work, as expat managers of big companies and subsequently get promoted to much bigger jobs back home. For example the new CEO of BP used to run BP’s Russian JV - which was an interesting story if you have time. I recommend International experience to anyone (not just for reasons of career progression but also personal). Learning a language can be part of that but is not compulsory. One thing I might add is that it’s hard to teach an old dog new tricks. Language takes a long time to get good at and accent can be impossible to really overcome for some once you have gotten older. This goes double or triple for languages distantly related to your native language.
As I say, been there done that in European countries. I lived in one European country for 5 years and another for 7 years and I am multilingual. So i’m giving you my experience. You will not go to see clients and speak in their language unless you are fluent. You have to get very good. I have just come back from vacation in France and I would estimate I speak it better than 90% of the English speaking population - I treat it as just that though, a nice to have, but not a real career enhancer. I would need to live there and be required to speak it daily for a year to get good enough. I am definitely not dissuading anyone from learning a language, it’s really a great thing to do. If you are going to learn, best way is through the pillow…
Best way is through a pillow… Maybe not the most efficient way, but yes, definitely the best way 
While I can say dirty things in a whole bunch of languages thanks to “the pillow,” I never learned business vocab in the sack. You got to learn that on your own. The two don’t mix. “your p____y is full of alpha… Oh baby … Take my C*m Flow from F------ on your incum statement. Put it up your asset on your balance sheet.” Just gross…
Assuming all of you are proficient in English, what’s the next language you would wish to learn from : A. German B. Arabic C. Chinese D. French
Disagree. Europe here. Hiring patterns are quite parochial in most non-English speaking territories in Europe, due to language as well as culture / familiarity with educational institutions / trust etc. I am fluent in three languages and would not be able to do my job effectively without the second (English) and third (local) language. My first language is professionally irrelevant at the moment. Landing a job without mastering the local language first would be easiest at the bottom (internship) and top (senior executive) levels. A local link can also help, e.g. a relocation based on a decision to raise children in of the home country of a spouse, which suggests a motivation to learn the language and culture.
I would learn another language if I were you. As it will assist greatly in picking up chicks. When you go to the country where they speak that language, the girls will think it is cute and adore you… So forget all of the above, and learn the language of the country where you most want to pickup chicks. Question solved
^ Spanish, DONE :-)!
(…) As it will assist greatly in picking up chicks. Disagree again. Although it depends what kind of chicks you want to meet. Snappy conversation in English can be fun and exciting for the local bright eyed girls. Talking with a foreigner trying his hand at local-speak without the wittiness that comes with fluency, and an ugly accent to boot, reflects politeness, national chauvinism or practical need. Unless that foreigner is incredibly handsome of course.
Agree with SheFa, Not knowing the language frequently excites the local girls and less beating around the bush is needed. However, if you want more of a long term thing, it’s best that at least one of you speak the others language.
In my country, it’s considered cheap and low class to flirt in local-speak. Your English must be fluent if you want to impress a city-girl. So, local language might not “greatly assist in picking up chicks”.
I’m going to wade in here… Ignore the career side of things and just do it for the pleasure of learning another languge.
Unilever Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I’m going to wade in here… > > Ignore the career side of things and just do it > for the pleasure of learning another languge. +1 and I think it’s intellectually stimulating too!
No No, I dont mean hit on them in the language. You just use it dispersingly in conversation and they love it. Your foreigness is your greatest advantage in the pickup game!! Especially in countries that are smaller, where an english speaker speaking the language is strange.
Bernanke Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Unilever Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > I’m going to wade in here… > > > > Ignore the career side of things and just do it > > for the pleasure of learning another languge. > > +1 > > and I think it’s intellectually stimulating too! That’s what I was saying! Plus: do Chinese if you really want a career improving move. Double plus: Learning a little local language definitely helped me get by both with locals and non native speakers who didnt speak English. Many pillows. Could just be my charm though, cos I am one quasimodo-uglymofo.
I know: -French (mother tonge) -English I want to learn: -Spanish -Mandarin (which I hear is basically impossible to learn)
I guess it depends what you want to do. If you want to stay in an English-speaking country, learning a new language from scratch will be useless for your career, since you will likely always remain far from fluent. However if you are looking to relocate, some basic knowledge of the language could open the door to you if you are young and willing to learn the language (this is what happened to me in my first job). I speak language A as my mother tongue, English is my second language and C as a third language which I pretty much learned on the job. Since C is the local language where I live and that I got my current job because I am a native speaker of A (the A-Desk is booming where I work), I am an example of someone whose career depends on languages to a certain point. If you want to work in continental Europe (part of the world where I have my career so I have an idea of how it works here), not knowing the local language will be a great hinderance at best. In many places in continental Europe fluent English is a given, on top of fluent local language. There are exceptions in big financial centers like Frankfurt, Zürich and also Paris. Some prestigious firms hire unilingual English speakers from London or Wall Street, and don’t care about their knowledge of the local language. Even if it’s not for your career, learn a language !!! I couldn’t tell you how much being multilingual has shaped who I am.
I’d like to learn Chinese. Probably not going to happen…