Best Foreign Language to Learn Online and get Job

By learning foreign languages, you can improve your chances to get jobs, meet new people and travel the world. Through this article, you will learn about the importance, scope and job opportunities after learning a foreign language.

Before you identify the best foreign language to learn for jobs, you should know about these languages. Foreign languages are spoken in countries other than your own country. For example, Spanish and German are examples of foreign languages in India. Hindi and Arabic are foreign languages in Germany. Let us learn more about the scope, job opportunities and importance of foreign languages. 

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Table of Contents

• Best foreign language to learn for jobs
  • English
  • Mandarin
  • Spanish
  • German
  • French
  • Arabic
  • Japanese
• Why learn foreign languages?
• Jobs for foreign language learners
  • Teacher
  • Translator
  • Subtitle Writer
  • Tour Guide
  • Flight Attendant
  • Content Writer
• How to learn foreign languages?

Best Foreign Languages To Learn For Jobs

In this section, we will list the five best foreign language to learn for jobs.

1. English

English is the most spoken language in the world that is the official language of 59 sovereign states. It is also the co-official language of the UN and European Union.

Pros and Cons of Learning English

Pros:

• Since English is spoken worldwide, it can help you with numerous opportunities. One can get jobs, a chance to interact with more people and travel; worldwide.

Cons:

• It may be difficult to learn English since it takes longer to learn and speak English. 

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2. Mandarin/ Chinese

Mandarin or Northern Chinese is one of the most spoken forms of Chinese. It forms the basis of Modern Standard Chinese which is also spoken in Taiwan. It is an ideographic language that uses symbols rather than phonetic letters for word representation. 

For instance, A is 诶 and B is 必. There are 24 basic characters and thousands of combinations of these basic characters. Mandarin Chinese is divided into four groups: Northern, Northwest, Southwest and Southern. These differ on the basis of their dialect. 

Pros and Cons of Learning Mandarin

Pros:

• The grammar is very easy to master once you learn characters and tonalities in Mandarin.
• China is a global economy which expands the scope of learning Mandarin. 

Cons:

• It is a complicated language since meanings can change completely with a change in tonality. 
• The language has four different tones to it which means that a single word may mean four different things based on your tone.

3. Spanish

Spanish is an Indo-European language that is the second most widely studied language in the world. It is the official language of 20 countries with over 500 million Spanish-speaking natives. Spanish is the second most spoken native language after Mandarin Chinese. It is one of the six official languages of the UN. 

Pros and Cons of Learning Spanish

Pros:

• It is one of the best foreign language to learn for jobs since it is the official language of many countries and international organisations.
• It is very easy to learn with 27 alphabets with most of the letters being similar to English alphabets.

Cons:

Different grammatical rules and sentence syntax may be complicated in the beginning.

4. German

It is a West Germanic language of Indo-European language that is spoken mainly in Central Europe. It is the official language in Germany, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and Austria among other nations. 

German is the co-official language of Belgium and Luxembourg. It is also widely spoken within the European Union. In continental Europe, it is the third most taught language.

Pros: 

• It is a phonetic language which makes learning pronunciation easier.

Cons:

• Different dialects in the German language have different sounds and different words. 
• Learning German may seem difficult since grammatical rules as it is an inflected language. 

5. French

The French language is also one of the best foreign language to learn for jobs. It is also one of the romance languages of the Indo-European family. French is the official language in 29 countries. It is also one of the six official languages of the UN. 

French is spoken as a first language in France, regions of Canada (Quebec, Ontario, New  Brunswick), Switzerland, Luxembourg, etc. 

Pros: 

• It is a popular language with French speakers in multiple countries.

Cons:

• Words in French languages have difficult pronunciation.
• Grammar is difficult to learn at the beginning.

6. Arabic

Arabic is a Semitic language that has 32 varieties with Modern Standard Arabic as the standard form. Modern Standard Arabic is referred to as Literary Arabic.  It is a widely used language. Modern Standard Arabic is the official language of 26 states. 

It is one of the most popular languages besides English and French. A number of languages have incorporated words from the Arabic language.

Pros:

Most of the vocabulary is derived from 3-letter verb-based forms and follows a regular pattern. 

Cons:

Certain sounds are not comprehensible in Arabic. This may be a challenge while learning Arabic.

7. Japanese

The Japanese language has 128 million speakers worldwide with majority people in Japan. It involves Ryukyuan languages and several Hachijō languages. Japanese has simple phonotactics, pure vowel system, phonemic vowel and consonant length.

Pros and Cons of Learning Japanese

Pros:

• You can find business opportunities to work in Japan.

Cons:

• Japanese has a complex writing system with elaborate and detailed grammer rules.

Why Learn Foreign Languages?

Take a look at the following reasons if you are still contemplating whether you should learn foreign languages:

1. For travelling 

In case you are planning a trip abroad, you must be able to understand the basic dialogues of that country. This is important since you will have to communicate with locals during your visit. This will not only save your time but also prevent any confusion or mishaps. 

2. To learn about the culture

If you want to learn about a culture, you need to communicate with the natives. To do so, you need to learn their native language. People who speak that foreign language will be able to understand their culture much better.

3. For business purposes

If you have customers, clients or vendors in other countries, then learning a foreign language will be really helpful. You will be able to interact and conduct business more smoothly. Once you learn the language, you will also be able to address the lags in the system more easily. You will be able to expand your business to some of the largest economies.

4. Add on to the resume

Learning languages will improve your profile and will give your resume an edge against competitors. This will reflect your consistency and intellect. 

5. Multiple Job Opportunities

Once you learn a foreign language, you will get a number of job opportunities in different sectors and roles.

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Jobs For Foreign Language Learners

The job market has multiple opportunities for those who have knowledge of foreign languages. Let us discuss the different job profiles:

1. Teacher

One of the most direct ways of earning money through a foreign language is to teach it to others. You can take official examinations of the required language and get certified. Some institutions may require you to have completed B.ed for applying as a teacher. 

2. Translator

As a translator, you must be fluent in both verbal and written language. Many jobs for the role of the translator may not need a degree but will definitely assess your command of the language. Translators and interpreters have the following responsibilities:

• Compiling terminology and information used for translations such as technical terms.
• Discussing the translation requirements and expected services. 
• Reading, proofreading, editing and translating the document into the specified language.
• Translating the speech into the required language.

3. Subtitles Writer

Subtitles writers write translated dialogues for those who want to watch videos in other languages. They either write the subtitles from the video or they write subtitles based on the transcription of the video. These are also used for the audience who is hearing-impaired. They have the following responsibilities:

• Translating foreign language dialogues into the languages understood by the audience.
• Capturing and transcribing proceedings and other legal information.
• Using computer-aided transcription to translate and display them as text.
• Determining the caption that should be revised and left out.
• Improvising necessary captions for music and background sounds.

4. Tour Guide

If you want a job in the travel industry, then foreign language jobs are great for your profile. You can become a tour guide for the tourists. Following are the responsibilities of such professionals:

• Informing customers about the tour itinerary.
• Planning itineraries for tourists for each tour.
• Scheduling visits to different tourist attractions.
• Planning alternate activities in case of cancellations, closures, or unavoidable situations.
• Informing tourists about the culture and the history of the place

5. Flight Attendant

If you know a foreign language and fulfil the eligibility criteria of an airline, then you can try for a career as a flight attendant. A flight attendant or air hostess has the following responsibilities:

• Getting involved in flight scheduling meetings.
• Attending to passengers and taking care of their in-flight requirements.
• Checking the condition of emergency equipment.
• Sharing emergency and flight information with passengers.
• To demonstrate emergency equipment and other safety procedures for passengers.
• Administering first aid and dealing with other emergencies.
• Creating written reports after the completion of a flight journey.

6. Content Writer

If you know a foreign language, you can plan a career as a content writer. Content writers are the professionals who write SEO based content. They have the expertise in writing, editing and marketing content. A content writer has the following responsibilities:

• Conducting research on relevant topics and associated keywords.
• Creating content based on SEO-friendly practices.
• Keeping the content grammatically correct.
• Creating content for blogs, infographics, newsletters, whitepapers, etc.
• Writing marketing copy to promote products/services.
• Using Content Management Systems to publish and edit content.
• Coordinating with the concerned department to create technically accurate content.
• Promoting content on social media platforms.
• Updating content regularly based on its performance and requirement.

How To Learn Foreign Languages?

You should keep the following points in mind if you have plans of learning a foreign language:

1. Watch videos: If you want to speak a foreign language, you should watch videos in that language. This will help you understand the usage and intent of words, tones,  synonyms, etc. You will be able to comprehend how native speakers speak and what slang words they use.
2. Read more: Try to read more. Start with short stories, comics or any reading material that interests you. Through this, you will be able to speed up the process of learning. As you progress with the level, learn advanced level books, documents and literature to improve your command of the language. Once you bring this into practice, you will understand the usage of words and the formation of sentences. Your vocabulary will also improve significantly. 
3. Join courses: Foreign language courses can be really helpful as they help you learn a language in a systematic manner. These courses are taught by experts who can explain to you the technicalities of the language. They can provide you with the guidance to easily learn a foreign language. On the completion of the course, you will be certified which validates your skillset. This can be really useful since some jobs require certification.
4. Listen to audios: This will be helpful in improving your listening skills. It will also help you in learning accurate pronunciations. For example, English speakers should listen to audio in Mandarin to understand their tonalities. 
5. Communicate with people: You must practice the language by communicating with people. Through communication, you will become fluent in the language and sometimes, your sentences will become grammatically correct.

Conclusion

Hope this article helps you in deciding which is the best foreign language to learn for jobs. While learning a new language, do remember that it takes time and practice to become skilled in it. There is no shortcut to the learning journey and you must maintain consistency for a better understanding of the language.