The following is a presentation I gave for the University of Anchorage, Alaska, Department of Foreign Languages on April 17, 2009. The title is, Language: Your Passport To The World. Enjoy!
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Thank you to the University of Alaska for asking me here to speak this evening. I would like to thank Olga Livshin especially for organizing the event. I am passionate about foreign languages, and Russian is my chosen passion. I will be speaking a little bit about my career in Russian, with hopes of opening up students’ eyes to the possibilities of a career in foreign languages.
When I heard the title of today’s event, I thought of the passports I have owned since 1986, when I graduated from the University of Vermont with a BA in the Russian language. Since then, I have owned two passports and a diplomatic passport, and if you count the pages, I had to add over the years, the number of passports turns out to be more like five. Russian language has indeed been my passport to the world.
One of my favorite comedy writers, Woody Allen, remarked that he considered becoming bi-sexual because it would double his chances of a date on a Saturday night. Knowing a foreign language works the same way– it doubles your chances of finding a good interesting career.
Russian gave me a kind of lateral freedom to work in a number of different fields. My friends say that I cannot work at a normal job, and I have to agree with them. I have always needed a lot of travel and intellectual challenge to keep from getting bored. A brief resume of my career in Russian would look like this:
Eleven expeditions as a vessel interpreter on a joint Soviet – American fishing venture in the Bering Sea.
Two years as the Ambassador’s gardener at the United States Embassy in Moscow, USSR.
Four expeditions to the Pamir and Caucuses mountains as a trekking guide for REI Adventures.
Two years on Kamchatka, Russia, writing about privatization in the Russian fishing industry for the Institute of Current World Affairs.
Two years in Vostochny Port, Russia, working in container shipping for Sealand Service.
Five years in Moscow, Russia working in project logistics for Maersk Line.
Two years working in St. Petersburg, Russia, in container shipping as General Manager for Maersk Line.
I love my bi-lingual career and cannot imagine life without it. Personal growth has something to do with it – going overseas creates a wonderful alchemy in the mind. It stretches and changes you in ways you never would never imagine. Foreign languages open up new paths in life and beckon you to explore, to see amazing new places, meet wonderful people, try unfamiliar foods and dive deep into exotic cultures. Sometimes I think of my career in Russian as a dog’s life – but not in the sense that it is miserable, rather, that sometimes it feels like seven years are lived in one year, because of the intensity.
The American thinker Ralph Waldo Emerson disdained to learn a foreign language, saying that he saw no reason to swim a river, when he could cross on a bridge. But a bridge may not be around when you need one, and besides, a little water never hurt anybody. Living in Russia taught me to build my own little bridges wherever I went, to swim when necessary, to look at the world differently and to challenge my assumptions. Russians were so different from what I thought they would be. There is no substitute for finding out for yourself.
Career choice is major plus in knowing a foreign language. International companies willingly hire graduates with foreign language skills and then teach you their business. This happened to me with commercial fishing and the shipping industry. When I left college, I had no idea I would work in these industries. Think of your own possibilities.
Generally, the money is good when you know a second language, especially if you work overseas. Then you enjoy tax breaks, and benefits like paid housing and paid travel. All that disposable income comes in handy. I paid off my student loans for both a BA and a Master’s in record time, thanks to knowing a second language.
If you love to travel, nothing gets you on the road like a career in foreign languages. Moscow, I found out, is two hours by plane from all of Europe. Companies pay you to travel on business. You work with colleagues throughout the world, collaborate with them on projects and get paid to do so. This is not the worst career path in the world.
My career was spontaneous and I cannot really recommend a direct path to anybody – you will have to find your own way and do it yourself. There are no secrets. But hey, you are resourceful and adventurous types, or you would not want a career in foreign languages. That said, here are some places you may want to look:
Certainly check with big global producers of consumer goods. Outfits like Proctor & Gamble and Unilever have a significant overseas presence, and always need fresh talent.
Transportation and logistics companies always need new talent, and the international ones need bi-lingual people by default. Check with Maersk, Mediterranean Shipping, Kuhn & Nagel, Federal Express, et cetera, for opportunities.
The State Department, the United Nations, the FBI, the CIA, the NSA and military always need persons with language skills. Other places to look are the US Department of Agriculture, the Department of Energy, National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA, and so on.
A combination of a foreign language degree and a second degree in another discipline is unbeatable in the marketplace.
Russian-speaking petroleum engineers can write their own ticket for the next ten years. A graduate in public health with a foreign language should find a rewarding professional life. A computer programming, accounting, finance or business degree plus a foreign language adds up to a very nice career, indeed. Non-governmental organizations, tourism, and hospitality are good places for graduates with foreign language degrees to find a home.
There is a wider perspective, too. A bit beyond the personal.
On a regional level, the need for foreign language expertise is urgent. The United States shares an Arctic commons with eight other nations, two of which border Alaska. The future of the marine resources and energy reserves in the Arctic will be a major policy issue for Russia and the United States over the next half-century. Alaska deserves a place at the table when Moscow and Washington set Arctic policy. This is a huge opportunity for UAA Russian language students, who live here and know the issues at stake. Every dollar Alaska spends funding Russian language programs at UAA will pay for itself ten times over in the future.
Globally – and I will generalize here – Americans do not know enough about the wider world. Sometimes we assume that all people and nations are the same, with interests, values and motivations similar to our own. We think we can get a sense of a national leader’s soul by looking into his eyes, or understand a country by osmosis, simply because it is right next door.
Foreign languages disabuse us of these assumptions. They demand we learn nuance. They force us to hear people speaking in their own words. They teach us to understand the unfamiliar in unfiltered terms.
I have had my passport stamped in forty countries of the world, just by dint of knowing one foreign language. Do not doubt that learning a foreign language is worth your while. It is good for you, it is good for your state and it is good for your country. So get out there, do your homework, get inspired and think about the good things in the future.
And may your passports have many, many stamps!
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