It pays to know another language
When I was young, my ability to speak French, Italian, and Spanish was pretty useless professionally, unless I wanted to teach. Businesses made the assumption that “Everybody speaks English.”
In Europe at that time, I was routinely expected to speak at least two languages, and most people spoke more than that, so speaking another language was socially valuable, which was gratifying personally.
I will leave the “socially valuable” assessment to you, but mastery of a foreign language is increasingly valuable professionally today. Below is a recent listing (taken from here: www.washingtonpost.com/business/capitalbusiness/contracts-to-watch/2011/07/13/gIQAS7UFKI_story.html) of contracts for foreign language services.
Northrop Grumman Technical Services of Herndon won a $9.7 million contract from the Army to provide for the procurement of foreign language services.
L-3 Services of Reston and Mission Essential Personnel of Columbus, Ohio, won a $9.7 million contract from the Army for the procurement of foreign language services.
Global Linguist Solutions of Falls Church won a $9.7 million contract from the Army for the procurement of foreign language services.
CACI Premier Technology of Chantilly won a $9.7 million contract from the Army for the procurement of foreign language services in support of the Defense Department Language Interpretation and Transition Enterprise program.
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