One career choice that I am strongly considering is to work for an internationally-operating humanitarian organization such as the Peace Corps or the Red Cross / Red Crescent organization. I've traveled to and lived in many different countries all around the world for my dad's work and though I wish it were possible for me to learn many different languages, it probably isn't since I'm almost an adult now and language-learning won't come so naturally.
That being said, if I had to choose one language to help me in a career of humanitarian work, which should it be? I've learned a bit of French in high school, and knowing that it is used in many parts of Africa, would it be beneficial for me to pursue this language and try to gain fluency (as close as I can get), or is there another language I should consider learning?
I mostly ask because I know that the languages you know are a factor in recruitment to humanitarian organizations. Also, I would want to learn the language that I would be most likely to use.
Answers & Comments
Verified answer
Honestly, English. It's the language most of the world aspires to learn. In larger cities, it's common to be able to find someone who can speak at least a little English. (And if you're working for a large international organization such as Red Cross -- though I have to tell you the odds of being selected are really small on that -- it's *very* likely it'll be English that's spoken.)
That said, in my experience, French would likely be the best second language. Many countries, including many African countries, have languages based on French or French as an official language (even though many common people, such as in Morocco, don't know it.)
Spanish would be good, too, for the same reasons: versions of it are spoken in many countries.
But, like the other answerer said, where do you want to work? That makes a big difference. The six official languages of the UN are Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish.
Arabic differs vastly from country to country. The others also vary from country to country.
I don't think being an adult make it difficult to learn a language. If you are really determinate to learn a language, there is no limit for you to achieve your goal, even if you are an adult.
I don't know which language would be the best to do a career of humanitarian, but english is I think already good. But you're right when you say french is used in many parts of Africa, maybe as much as english, or almost.
Maybe you can get informations by these organizations.
I guess it would really depend on where you wanted to go. If you would like to go to India, maybe Kannada or Hindu. It's a big country with plenty of good to be done. Spanish covers quite a few countries as well...
From what I've seen the focus seems to be more on what you majored in at school than what languages you know. Sociology and Anthropology majors will help you to be accepted to these service careers (since often times they are actually a pre-req)... and you can always learn the language later. It's a nice touch to be able to say you are proficient in a non-native language though, regardless of what it is - shows you have the willingness to do so.
french
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