Spring Break
Foreign language a plus for scoring that first job
Trend shows students taking foreign language classes, like Spanish, to supplement for any resume shortcomings
Nick Ngo
Issue date: 10/22/07 Section: News
Foreign language courses have become increasingly important for students to land a career after graduating.
Laura Renicker, a junior in political science and accounting, plans on pursuing a career in international business. Renicker said taking Russian language courses will help her accomplish her goal.
"I think it's one of the main languages, so it's important to know one of these if you want to do business," Renicker said of common languages such as Spanish, German, Japanese and Chinese. "I guess it gets you ahead in the business world a bit and [enables you to] one-up somebody."
Guy Wood, chairman of the foreign languages department, said students work on completing a foreign language degree in addition to their other majors.
"This betters their chances for employment when they graduate," Wood said. "[Students taking language courses span] across the board at the university level."
Engineering and public health majors, for example, often take courses in Spanish, Wood said.
"It's popular because of the importance and closeness of the Hispanic world in the U.S.," Wood said. "It's the second language."
Aside from helping students find employment, foreign language courses give students cultural opportunities and advantages.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, with over 6.6 billion people in the world and 303 million people in the United States, not everybody speaks English.
"The world is shrinking. It's becoming more and more important for us to communicate globally," Wood said.
Learning a foreign language can also help students as they study abroad.
"If students participate in study abroad programs and internships in a country [other than the U.S.], their horizons will broaden exponentially," Wood said. "Their maturity level also rises enormously. When they come back here, they're better students."
Kayla Garcia, an advanced language instructor, said that knowing a foreign language opens a student's mind to different cultures.
Laura Renicker, a junior in political science and accounting, plans on pursuing a career in international business. Renicker said taking Russian language courses will help her accomplish her goal.
"I think it's one of the main languages, so it's important to know one of these if you want to do business," Renicker said of common languages such as Spanish, German, Japanese and Chinese. "I guess it gets you ahead in the business world a bit and [enables you to] one-up somebody."
Guy Wood, chairman of the foreign languages department, said students work on completing a foreign language degree in addition to their other majors.
"This betters their chances for employment when they graduate," Wood said. "[Students taking language courses span] across the board at the university level."
Engineering and public health majors, for example, often take courses in Spanish, Wood said.
"It's popular because of the importance and closeness of the Hispanic world in the U.S.," Wood said. "It's the second language."
Aside from helping students find employment, foreign language courses give students cultural opportunities and advantages.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, with over 6.6 billion people in the world and 303 million people in the United States, not everybody speaks English.
"The world is shrinking. It's becoming more and more important for us to communicate globally," Wood said.
Learning a foreign language can also help students as they study abroad.
"If students participate in study abroad programs and internships in a country [other than the U.S.], their horizons will broaden exponentially," Wood said. "Their maturity level also rises enormously. When they come back here, they're better students."
Kayla Garcia, an advanced language instructor, said that knowing a foreign language opens a student's mind to different cultures.
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