In the U.S., speaking more than one language fluently is not very common – except in Los Angeles, California.The city has one of the largest populations in the U.S. of young people between the ages of 18 and 34. This generation is often called millennials. More than half of millennials in Los Angeles are bilingual, which […]
Continue readingMeasuring English Proficiency in Real-World Situations
Note: This post has been updated on April 2, 2024 to reflect the updates to the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines. Trust — but verify. We trust that English language learners are gaining something through their studies, but how do we verify what they actually can do with their language skills? We may believe that a job […]
Continue readingUsing Languages in National Security
The largest employer for language professionals in this country is the U.S. Department of Defense—a fact that might surprise many people. In fact, national security is a fast-growing and exciting career area for those with strong foreign language skills, offering a wide variety of opportunities that stretch beyond translation and interpretation. The Federal Bureau of […]
Continue readingGroundbreaking Study from ACTFL Measures Listening and Reading
Fifty years ago, John B. Carroll undertook a landmark study analyzing the oral proficiency of students in language programs in the United States. The often-cited article on his research, “Foreign Language Proficiency Levels Attained by Language Majors Near Graduation from College,” appeared in Foreign Language Annals in 1967—the first year of the journal’s publication. The impact on […]
Continue readingThe Digital Language Divide
The internet, much like space, is infinite. This opens people up to a limitless way to communicate and thus, language plays an important role in how information is displayed and translated. The first language used on the internet was almost certainly English. By the mid-1990s it was estimated that English made up nearly 80% of online content. However […]
Continue readingHow Can HR Ensure All Employees Have the Right Level of Business English Skills?
Developing and implementing a language assessment strategy is an effective way for HR to measure the language ability of new appointments and existing staff. When assessing the business English skills for new employees, the first thing to consider is how much English language they need to know in order to carry out their roles effectively. […]
Continue readingEthnic Marketing? Turning Obstacles into Opportunities
In the past, appealing to minorities was not a major concern to marketers in most industries. Ethnic groups in America were expected to assimilate into the mainstream over time, making it a case of Mohammed coming to the mountain. But time has proven this reasoning faulty. As a result of many economic and social factors, […]
Continue readingMatchmaker, Matchmaker, Find Me a Job
It’s no coincidence that Sanjeev Agrawal, the co-founder and chief executive of Collegefeed, compares finding a job with dating. Finding The One (or at least The One That’s Good Enough) in both jobs and love is difficult under the best of circumstances, and it’s even harder if you don’t know where or how to start your […]
Continue readingAre We Really Monolingual?
Americans are often told that in today’s globalized world, we are at a competitive disadvantage because of our lazy monolingualism. “For too long, Americans have relied on other countries to speak our language,” Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said at the Foreign Language Summit in 2010. “But we won’t be able to do that in […]
Continue readingPress 1 for English, Press 2 for Your Language
In its recent survey on global consumer preferences on the web, “Can’t Read, Won’t Buy,” Common Sense Advisory found that three-quarters of 3,002 respondents in 10 non-English-speaking countries are more likely to buy a product if the post-sales support is in their language. That customer care may be delivered through FAQs or chat at the […]
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