World travel appeals to just about everyone. After all, who can resist the allure of visiting exotic locations, meeting new people, sampling foreign cuisine, and absorbing cultures radically different from your own? Unfortunately, many people see world travel as just an impractical dream, which they think that they don’t have the time or money to pursue.
But when you add learning a new language to world travel, suddenly an impossible dream seems a whole lot more reasonable. By folding the acquisition of a marketable job skill into the world travel experience, it is much easier for people of all ages and positions in life to justify taking time off to visit a foreign country.
Learning Spanish is a particularly good choice, because it is currently the 4th most spoken language in the world, with about 350 million speakers! That’s a lot of potential employers and customers for you to communicate with.
When you learn Spanish with ECELA in Chile, Argentina, or Peru, you can quickly reach your desired level of proficiency and gain access to some of the following career paths.
Jobs that Require Spanish Language Abilities
Teaching. You can teach English speakers Spanish or Spanish speakers English or another language you know. Teaching English abroad is of course a great way to extend your world travels!
Translating. There are a wide variety of translating jobs available. You might start out doing contract work or informal translations for individuals and then get hired on by a publishing company, a large corporation, a law firm, or a government office to do both written translation and simultaneous spoken translation.
Customer Service. Since so many people speak Spanish, companies really value employees that can reach their customers in Spanish and English. This is especially true in areas of the US with large Spanish speaking populations like the Southwest and Florida.
International Business. Bilingual individuals will always have an advantage in international business, because they can communicate directly with potential investors, business partners, suppliers, and clients rather than using an interpreter or translator.
Social Services. Again, in many regions of the US there is a huge demand for social workers who can communicate with the Spanish speaking population. This might be in the areas of legal assistance, child welfare, immigration, or government aid programs.
Medical Staff. In emergency life or death situations, even basic Spanish can be extremely helpful for EMTs, doctors, and nurses who need to communicate quickly with Spanish speaking patients.
Law Enforcement. Police officers and other law enforcement personnel need to fit into the communities they serve, and in many areas that means speaking Spanish.
Tour Guide. A few lucky individuals might even be able to leverage their Spanish skills by leading English speaking tour groups on trips to Spanish speaking countries.