By María Padrón
It’s a fact that only about 5 percent of the world speaks English. This means that in order to maintain a competitive advantage in today’s globalized job market, we must master an additional language. I grew up in Miami with parents of Cuban and Peruvian descent. I’m a native Spanish speaker, but English became my primary language after mastering it in grade school. Even after that I’ve always spoken Spanish among relatives, so when I moved to Tallahassee, it was a bit of a culture shock. Now I speak Spanish on rare occasions, like when I’m on the phone with parents, or when I make myself watch the nightly news in Español. Yes, that’s right, I make myself. I’ve even signed up for Spanish courses at FSU to become familiar with the small details that make Spanish intricate, like spelling and grammar rules. My textbooks? Literary novels and all that good stuff, but fashion magazines are an even better option for keeping up with day-to-day language and common expressions. Whoever discovered that there was a market for Cosmopolitan among Latinas like myself, was a genius.
“What’s with the obsession with maintaining my ability to communicate and understand Spanish?”, you ask. For those of you that will be entering the job market for good in the near future, being bilingual will help you in your career by granting you access to double the amount of employment and career-advancing opportunities when compared to someone who is simply fluent in one language. For instance, my versatility to communicate in either English or Spanish will increase the possibilities of where those unique opportunities may come from. My communication skills in English and Spanish can be applied to jobs in Canada, Spain, Colombia, England and other corners of the world.
Being bilingual can also make you more attractive to employers by automatically setting you apart from candidates with only a single language under their belt. By maintaining your ability to communicate in your native language, bilingualism not only gives you a wide appeal, but can showcase your cultural heritage as well. In today’s globalized job market your language skills can be transferred to many fields and industries as the demand for professionals who can communicate to a multicultural audience continues to increase.
Distinguished author and reporter Jorge Ramos made an important point in the article entitled “La latinización de Estados Unidos” when he said: “la única manera de enfrentar los problemas específicos de la comunidad latina es con mas líderes. Como decía Octavio Paz, ‘el reto de Estados Unidos es que se reconozca como lo que es: una nación multietnica, multirracial y multicultural’” (Ramos, “La latinización de Estados Unidos”). In its English translation this means: “the only way to fix the problems that are specific to the Latin community is with more leaders. Like Octavio Paz used to say, ‘the goal of the United States is that it is recognized for what it is: a multiethnic, multiracial and multicultural nation’”.
My generation will contribute our grain of salt to alter the history of the Latino community in the U.S. My goal as a public relations professional is to become a leader in the Latin community as we continue to grow in numbers, influence and purchasing power. I look forward to exploring the opportunities that will allow me to apply my bilingual and bicultural heritage, from creating media content in Spanish to raising awareness about migratory laws. However, as more Latinos achieve positions of power, what I look forward to most is the leaders who will look and sound more like me y más como tú también.