9 to 5
Dear Community,

Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.

If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.

Thank you.

Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.

Learning a 2nd language for a job

I'm applying for several retail jobs that ask if I speak a 2nd language.  In high school and college I took a total of 6 years of French.  My accent is great but my speaking/reading/writing ability is rusty.  I'd like to list on my resume that I'm solid in French.

What is the best way for me to become fluent?  Rosetta Stone, something else?

TIA!

Re: Learning a 2nd language for a job

  • Do community colleges nearby offer classes?

    image
  • My middle school gets a ton of new students every year who don't speak much English and we use Rosetta Stone with good success. It is a supplement in their English as a second language class. I had a girl in my electives class last year that spoke 0 English when she arrived from Iran. She did Rosetta stone in her Language Arts class and In my class when we worked in the computer lab and she was learning a lot by the end of the year (she arrived in March). My brother-in-law also used it to learn German for his work and he really liked it and picked it up quite fast. It is expensive though- close to $200 I think, I would look first to see if your local community colleges have any refresher courses or if there is a language school where you live.
  • Ugh, going back to school to learn French doesn't appeal to me.  I may just go the Rosetta Stone route.
  • Dumb question- Is French a language that the customers will commonly be speaking (like in Canada)?
    image
    No amount of education could convince Betty to be nice to possums
  • Immersion is the best way to learn a language. :) You can look for conversation groups on something like meetup.com or craigslist. Watching programs online, reading in the language, and anything else you can do to be surrounded by it would help. If it's just for something like a retail job buying Rosetta Stone might not be cost effective.

    Signed,

    A Spanish immersion teacher

    Daisypath Anniversary tickers
  • Rosetta Stone won't make you fluent in a second language all on it's own. It's expensive, think about $150-$200 for each lesson, and you'll just be reinforcing the basics and covering material you already learned in high school/college for at least the first 2-3 lessons (basic verbs, counting, telling time, basic grammar, giving directions, etc). It would be a great refresher or supplement to immersion classes, a language class at a college, or even a meetup group to practice a second language. I used Rosetta Stone for french, and while I learned to speak conversationally, it's a long way from fluency.

    Additionally, I'm sure you'll pick things up much quicker than most given your background in french, but if you're applying for these jobs now, I wouldn't list French fluency on your resume yet. You'd be in a heap o' trouble if you happened to interview with a bilingual representative and they put you to the test :)

  • I wouldn't list French fluency on your resume either. You're probably conversational. But using it in a working environment is a new ballgame and from what I understand, very difficult. 

    I live in French Canada and have to speak the language everyday and have been taking 20 hours a week in courses and am still nowhere near being fluent. I would recommend Fluenz over Rosetta stone (it's another software program) and trying to find an immersive course that allows you to speak it everyday.

    Learning a 2nd language is amazing though! Good for you for giving it a shot. 

     

  • If you're just looking to practice, try http://livemocha.com.
  • imagephotogrrrl26:

    I wouldn't list French fluency on your resume either. You're probably conversational. But using it in a working environment is a new ballgame and from what I understand, very difficult. 

    I live in French Canada and have to speak the language everyday and have been taking 20 hours a week in courses and am still nowhere near being fluent. I would recommend Fluenz over Rosetta stone (it's another software program) and trying to find an immersive course that allows you to speak it everyday.

    Learning a 2nd language is amazing though! Good for you for giving it a shot. 

     

    Hey! Totally in a similar boat as you, and not to hijack this thread and go completely off topic, but can I pick your brain for a minute? I've heard of Fluenz before, but I have never known anyone who actually tried it, what did you like about it? Their approach is sort of a blended approach vs. Rosetta Stone, right? Also, are you doing the Quebec-provided immersion courses for immigrants, or are you in a private class? I've been here a good while, but I still haven't taken advantage of the free language courses they offer yet for a variety of reasons.. What did you think of the program?

  • Rosetta Stone might be helpful, but I recommend you supplement it with something else (a conversation group, etc).  Also, this might sound ridiculous, but check at your local high school...the teacher there might be willing to tutor you in French and then you would also have someone to interact with. (I know because I teach high school French and have been trying to do that on the side).
    Warning No formatter is installed for the format bbhtml
  • ER2125

    I am in an immersion course for immigrants. I absolutely love it! I met all of my friends, who are from all different countries in the class and we share our cultures. Also, they realize you have to speak to people so they make you talk a lot and they help you get to know the Quebecois culture. The immersion part is intimidating but after about a week, you'll know what's going on. 

    I like Fluenz because it helps not only with writing but speaking and gets you used to conversation. It's a lady talking to you and I think if you have a mic, you can talk back. I have never used Rosetta Stone but all the French speakers here recommended Fluenz.  

  • I'm appyling as a salesperson for a few French retailers in New Jersey stores.  I work for a French retailer now and only a few French-speaking customers have come into the mall-located store in 10 months since the boutique was launched.

    I don't see a lot of French speaking customers coming into any of these stores I'm applying for in suburban NJ.  Asian languages and Russian, yes, but not French.  I just mention French because I'm familiar with it.

     

Sign In or Register to comment.
Choose Another Board
Search Boards