Employment and Foreign Language Fluency

According to a recent article on CBS MarketWatch, foreign language fluency is fast becoming a key factor to landing many U.S.-based jobs. Employers are exploring the global marketplace like never before, and, as a result, their employees are being put in direct contact with customers and colleagues overseas. But are they fluent enough? Fluency in a foreign language requires years of intensive study, ideally while being immersed in an environment where the language is spoken constantly.

These opportunities can be somewhat difficult to come by for the typical American. In many institutions, foreign language courses are slowly being phased out of the curriculum and not offered until very late in a student's academic career. The current two-year high school requirement is only enough for a student to superficially grasp grammar, if s/he is lucky. In the worst case scenario, the two-year college requirement only reviews what the student should have learned in high school. Study abroad might not be financially feasible.

Fluency in a foreign language is not just the ability to put words together in a sentence, but, more importantly, the ability to communicate ideas and concepts. It is an understanding of both language and culture. So how can we expect to compete in a global marketplace where foreign languages have been learned since childhood? I think we just need to be smarter.

We need more interaction with native speakers and foreign media. We have to learn how a foreign language is actually spoken, then emulate the accent that we hear. We should practice speaking as much as possible, with someone who speaks the language better than we do. Many of these components are already in place on our website - immerse yourself in texts and videos, ask questions and read notes. Meanwhile, we'll keep working on other ways to help you increase your fluency in the spoken language.