10 Super Cool Jobs for People Who Know a Foreign Language

10 Super Cool Jobs for People Who Know a Foreign Language 10 Super Cool Jobs for People Who Know a Foreign Language Whats a second language worth?Or rather, how much can you earn by learning an extra language?Ever asked yourself that?Well, in a way, you already know the answer: It depends.The language will take you as far as you take it.Still, learning any language can really open up your career possibilities.In this post, well look into some of the awesome jobs that become available to someone when they speak another language.In so doing, we hope to encourage everybody to  start learning languages and increase their work options. 10 Super Cool Jobs for People Who Know a Foreign Language1. Teacher, Private Tutor or Online TutorIf you speak another language, the first thing to consider in terms of increased usefulness is being able to teach that language to others. You have three basic options here: classroom teacher, private tutor and online tutor.Classroom teacherAs a teacher, regardless of the school or organization youll be joining, youre probably going to need at least a degree in the langua ge you want to teach, plus certificationsâ€"proof that you stand ready and qualified for the work.Pick the teaching route if you love the idea of interacting with students and feel at home in a classroom environment. If you love the stability and formality of classes, then youll really love holding your own in a school, delivering the bullet-points in your lesson plans. Theres nothing as fulfilling as mentoring language learners and knowing that youre making a positive contribution to them and their lives.But the reality is, many fluent  speakers dont have the requisite credentials, although theyre perfectly able to teach the language to others. So for these folks who want to give teaching a go, the second and third optionsâ€"working as private and online tutorsâ€"might be the way to go.Private tutorA private tutor is like a classroom teacher, but s/he often works on a one-on-one and face-to-face basis. Sessions often take place after classes or work and may be engaged for remedial or enrichment purposes. Since youll probably be working freelance in this job, youll have complete control of the lessons and methods you use. This is one of the big draws of private tutoring.One drawback, however, is that as a freelancer you have to work the marketing side of the job. You have to put yourself out there and get yourself noticed and known. You can try posting your services on sites like Craigslist, Monster, eBay Classifieds or Oodle.A smart way to reach out for tutoring clients is signing up for Wyzant.This site puts your profile in front of a wide range of language students looking for tutors in your local area. The onboarding process is simple and rather fast: Answer a few questions about yourself and your relevant language experience, then pass a very standard, timed questionnaire to verify your skills. You’ll be approved very quickly and will have access to the Wyzant job board, where you can view dozens of potential tutoring clients on any given day. Of course , the number of potential clients out there will depend on the demand in your local area.Online tutorMany pick the third route, online tutoring, because they love the flexibility it brings. If the idea of working whenever and wherever appeals to you, then become an online tutor. The main advantage is that because its all done online, it blows open the door to a much wider market. Youre not limited by time or geography anymore.Verbling is hands-down the best place to start looking for online tutoring jobs.There’s a huge user base, and if you’re able to teach a less common language, then you’ll find even more students heading your way. It also simplifies the whole online teaching experience, streamlining your online classroom so you have no need for Skype or another third-party softwareâ€"you can set up your teaching schedule, advertise your skills, communicate with students and hold classes right on this site.A FluentU account can provide you with relevant video materials and i nspiration for your lessonsâ€"it can also help you stay up-to-date on cultural trends and references, or study other languages if youre still looking to expand your skill set. FluentU takes real-world videosâ€"like movie trailers, music videos, news and inspiring talksâ€"and turns them into personalized language lessons, which makes it perfect for learning any language for the real-world applications discussed in this post.2. InterpreterIf youre in a language-related job but not teaching others the language, youll probably be doing some kind of bridging. Meaning youre facilitating communication between parties in a situation, like when two heads of state who dont know each others languages need to talk to each other. You bridge their languages so that before they come to an agreement, they first come to an understanding of what the other is saying.Interpreters are most commonly visible during public events (Miss Universe pageant, UFC, church) where a lot of people who may not unders tand the speakers language are very much interested in what s/he is saying.Interpreters arent always on display, though. They also work smaller venues like courts. In the UN, you oftentimes wont even see them because theyre closeted in a booth nearby. But theyre facilitating the proceedings nevertheless. Thats them talking through the headphones, the voices in the heads of the delegates.Regardless of the platform or the size of the crowd, the job still consists of the same goal: accurately bridging two languages. This could easily be one of the most challenging and fun  language jobs out there. Theres nothing like the rush of being placed on the spot and, without missing a beat, converting the language you heard a millisecond ago into a target language. That right there is pure magic.3. TranslatorIf working next to Miss Universe isnt your cup of tea, then perhaps working with the written form of the language is more your style. Often, translation work can be done in the privacy of y our study or wherever a Starbucks table opens up.Translation is the process of rendering a piece of text understandable to a target audience. Translators normally translate from a second language into their native tongue. For example, Pierre, a native French speaker who also happens to speak fluent English, would be an ideal person to translate English into French.Unlike interpreters, who sometimes share the spotlight, translators often work behind the scenes, patiently converting words, thoughts and intent into a different language.You may not know it, but some of the greatest pieces of literature youve read in English are actually translations of the original. Some examples are The Iliad and The Odyssey (written by Homer in Greek), The Three Musketeers (written by Dumas in French) and Anna Karenina (written in Russian by Tolstoy).This means that some words we revere in the English language have actually been penned by (often unknown) translators rather than by the name written on the front of the book.Translators play a crucial role in our society and there are many different types. In addition to literary translators, youve got your specialized translators who work in different fields.Legal translators, for example, convert texts within the field of law. This includes contracts, protocols, decrees, decisions, depositions, even minutes of proceedings.Medical translators  work to make physicians diagnoses, treatment plans, patient information and pharmacological instructions intelligible in a different language. They also work to translate instruction manuals for medical equipment so patients can safely and effectively use said equipment.In short, every time  theres a language barrier, translators work to make a written text comprehensible for any number of readers.  This means working as a literary translator isnt the only way to go.Now, Im not saying you should hole up in your room and start translating the next classic or a whole textbook. Thats probably b iting off more than you can chew. Start by translating simple and short documents like letters, memos, speeches, etc. Build your skills. And then, when you think youre good, build them some more.Heres a good book if you want to get into translating.4. Childrens Book WriterWriting childrens literature is a good way to start writing, especially if the language youre using is not your first language. It doesnt force you to compete with well-connected and well-established native speakers as much as some other fields.But even more than the lighter writing loadâ€"which gives you more time to actually contemplate plot and other areas where you stand on equal ground with native speakersâ€"some parts of childrens literature are largely untapped markets, with plenty of entry points for bilinguals.The Cooperative Childrens Book Center  tracked racial diversity in childrens lit since 1985 and found the field to be very white.  In both authorship and content, childrens lit writers are predominan tly white. In other words, you get mostly white writers writing about white characters. This has left a pretty huge hole in childrens lit where minorities and people of color are concerned, but this is an area that can be perfectly filled by bilinguals.In America, for example, theres a huge Hispanic population that an author can cater to. (Same thing with Asian-Americans.) You could write a bilingual childrens book in which the same story is told in two languages, thereby making it more accessible to certain minority communities. You can speak to minority children, mirror their experiences and create characters and situations they can relate to. This kinship is something English-only authors would have a harder time finding.(Racial diversity is an important subject to be developed in American literature, especially since according to the US Census Bureaus 2012 report, most children  under one year old were racial minorities.)In other news, a study of 6,000 childrens books published between 1900 and 2000 found a gender imbalance  in the content of these books. Male animals were 2.5 times more likely to play the central character for childrens stories than female counterparts. This gender imbalance provides more fertile ground for a budding writer to find a niche in, and again, this gives bilingual writers or writers working in a second language a chance to break into a developing market.Lastly, childrens lit still has a ways to go in exploring many aspects of humanity. In addition to racial, gender and cultural issues, it has yet to effectively tackle certain social arrangementsâ€"like having two mothers in a family, or the issue of disabilityâ€"on a large scale. So the bilingual writer can cater to these issues and find meaningful work.Knowing another language isnt just knowing a different set of labels for the same things or ascribing a different set of sounds for the same concepts. Another language is essentially another view of the world, a different set of spectacles for certain experiences. This flexibility in thinking, this malleability in cognition, is helpful in tackling unorthodox subjects like the ones above and this is exactly what a bilingual author can bring to the table.5. Blogger, Speaker and SellerThe best example of someone who has built a career in this way is Benny Lewis, the guy behind the site  Fluent in 3 Months. Hes an Irish polyglot, language hacker and globetrotter who preaches the value of making mistakes in learning a new language.He’s spoken at TED conferences and has a celebrated book:  Fluent in 3 Months: How Anyone at Any Age Can Learn to Speak Any Language from Anywhere in the World.Now, Im not saying you should put up a blog just like his, but you can open yourself up when it comes to your own language learning: Write about and share genuine experiences, even your vulnerabilities. Benny talks about learning new languages as well as he does because thats what his days are all about.He also shares picture s of his travels. Now, if you cringe at the sight of your own picture on Facebook, then youre going to have a harder time becoming human in the blogosphere. Because your readers not only want to know that theres a real personâ€"with warts, flaws and allâ€"behind the posts, they want to know what youre really all about.So reply to as many comments as you can. Make friends with your readers. Connect with them on a personal level. This is the key. Time-consuming, yes, but the key.Benny also writes reviews  about products (books, programs, websites, software) hes tried on the road to becoming a polyglot. He shares what works, or rather what worked for him, and trusts readers to pick up what resonates with them.You may have different experiences than him. (Well, youll definitely have different experiences.) Thats a good thing. Share that with your audience.But most importantly, your blog must be meeting a specific language need or it must have a particular angle, rather than just being a general repository of your rants. For example, if you know Spanish and also love to cook, you could put up a blog called something like My Spanish Kitchen, where you not only dish out recipes but include language learning lessons with them. Bennys particular angle is that he can make you fluent in three months, which is a pretty exciting call to action.The speaker and seller part really come after you have a considerable following for your blog. Thats why you need to be genuine in your posts and share what youre really all about. This makes your readers feel like theyve known you forever. It makes them want to meet you in person. So when you announce an appearance, theyll come in droves and make a day of it.6. YouTuber or PodcasterEver think about having your own language learning TV show or radio show?With modern technology, you canâ€"in minutes! Bypass all the big media conglomerates, head over to YouTube and create your own channel. (Or in the case of podcasts, download the free recording software Audacity.)So youve got your own YouTube channel to house all those wonderful videos. Now what?The first thing you need to do in order to shape your content is to survey the landscape and learn from what other YouTubers are doing. Because heres the thing: You dont need to totally reinvent the wheel. You just need a flavor thats all your own. See what works for others, then inject your personality into your own  language learning videos. If youre funny, be funny. If youre serious, be serious (but interesting).Here are some language learning channels on YouTube to get you started:Speak English With Misterduncan (English)Señor Jordan (Spanish)Alexa Polidoro (French)Deutsch Happen (German)Learn Chinese with Emma (Chinese)Bobby Judo (Japanese)Notice how these language teachers dont waste their viewers’ time. They have real, actionable substance in their videosâ€"not fluff. The same is true with podcasts. They should be informative enough to be worth the listeners ti me.If you love the anonymity of radio, and would love to share some language lessons, podcasts might be for you. If YouTube is about videos, podcasts are all about audio. Unlike video lessons, podcasts allow listeners to multitask so you can deliver your lessons while people are doing something elseâ€"like commuting to work, waiting in line or enjoying a fresh brew.But the challenges of YouTube and podcasts are the same. You have to market yourself to your audience. You need to know who they are and where theyre hanging out online. And there are some specific things you need to do to build your audience: Here are some YouTube ideas  and podcasting insights to get you started.7. Tour GuideImagine youre a tourist in a foreign land. You dont speak the language and dont know your way around. Home feels like yesterdays dream. Wouldnt you feel dramatically relieved if someone who spoke your language took you around and explained to you what the inscriptions on those statues mean?In fact, wouldnt you want to pay the person who can do this for you? Wouldnt it make your vacation much more meaningful to have somebody explain to you the context, history or rationale of the things youre looking at or the places that you visit? Wouldnt it take away so much stress if every time you wanted to go to the bathroom, you didnt have to spend 15 minutes hunting for the person with the right demeanor to ask where it was?Looked at this way, one can easily ascertain why many tourists would choose international tour packages arranged by their own countrymen instead of those in the target country.A tour guide who can bridge the language and cultural gap for tourists is a prime commodity. In a world made smaller by modern transportation and technology, where travel has become the norm, the guide who speaks the language of their clients will be the most sought after. According to euromonitor.com, the travel industry is set to post record healthy growth from 2014-2019, with China leading t he way in outbound tourism.The Chinese are coming!And theyre bringing their cameras with them.8. Liaison OfficerA liaison officer coordinates the activities of two parties.Lets say two companies resolve to work together on a big project. They each would send a liaison officer who would discuss with their counterpart matters like information sharing, scheduling, managing expectations, etc. In short, liaison officers are the face and the force of the parties they represent. Likewise, the position requires relationship building. Liaison officers are the glue that holds two distinct parties together.In a rapidly globalizing and internationalizing society, we expect more joint activities from large corporations that may not only be culturally distinct but also linguistically different. Theres a bridging function that needs to be filled by folks who can effectively facilitate communication between these entities. Being a liaison officer goes beyond the job of an interpreter or a translato r because liaising requires a more active role in the whole process.If coordination and communication are your strong suits, give this job a try. Youll be exposed to many different types of people and organizations that will inevitably enrich your view of the world. In short, youll win.9. (Field) ResearcherMuch of human knowledge, especially from times past, is not recorded in the English language. For example, the Chinese, Arab and Hindu civilizations have made discoveries and insights that are still waiting to be discovered by the rest of the world.There arent enough people working on certain ancient texts and rediscovering them has been painfully slow. We cant leave this enormous task squarely on the shoulders of a few National Geographic researchers! So if youre excited about unveiling knowledge of the past, then put that extra language to good use as a researcher. Youll be making a contribution that will advance human knowledge immeasurably.How about field research? How might a bilingual put an extra language to good use there?Im not just talking here about going into the middle of the desert and doing excavations or working on ancient sites. Field research also encompasses issues that closely relate to us today. Market research and environmental research are examples. Lets say a projects goal is to find out how developments in an area have affected environmental conditions. You need to talk to people about it, in addition to looking at the condition of the water and soil samples.A large part of research is actually talking to people and directly asking pertinent questions, with the quality of research often depending on the quality of data yielded in such interviews.And the thing is, if you want people to open up, let down their guard and share more of their true feelings on an issue, you should send in someone who can speak in their own tongue. This is where a bilingual speaker comes in. You bridge the language of the people in the field and the languag e of record (the language the research will be written in).If you want to meet interesting people and be on the cutting edge of the issues of today, why dont you give field research a try?10. Product Localization ManagerDid you know that McDonalds, the worlds biggest seller of burgers, doesnt even have a Big Mac on their menu in India? They instead have the Maharaja Mac, a beef-less variation.  This is because cows are venerated in India and the company doesnt want to insult the religious beliefs of the people they serve.It may not be obvious, but even a highly standardized company like McDonald’s specializes their products according to location. Israel has had the McShawarma and Japan the Mega Teriyaki Mac, for example.A localization manager is needed in order to roll out these products correctlyâ€"which includes product research and development, labeling and marketing. A bilingual  who not only speaks the language but also intimately understands the sensibilities of the people i n a particular country can be excellent at this job.Product localization managers ensure that the good intentions of the company are properly translated, lest the whole thing look over-patronizing and backfire.And so we round up 10 of the jobs available for people who carry a second language.If youre someone who speaks only English, why dont you start learning a new language today? And One More ThingIf youre excited about the idea of learning a language for your future career, were here to help you start.FluentU is perfect for diving into a totally new language or polishing up a language youve learned to some level of fluency.With FluentU, you learn real languagesâ€"the same way that natives  speak them. FluentU has a wide variety of videos, including movie trailers, funny commercials and web series, as you can see here:FluentU App Browse Screen.FluentU has interactive captions that let you tap on any word to see an image, definition, audio and useful examples. Now native language content is within reach with interactive transcripts.Didnt catch something? Go back and listen again. Missed a word? Hover over or tap on the subtitles to instantly view definitions.FluentU Interactive Transcripts You can learn all the vocabulary in any video with FluentUs quiz mode. Swipe left or right to see  more examples for the word you’re learning.FluentU Has Quizzes for Every VideoAnd FluentU always keeps track of vocabulary that you’re learning. It uses that vocab to give you a 100% personalized experience by recommending videos and examples.