Advance Your Career. Learn a Second Language.

by Alex A. Kecskes

In the coming years, the military will be fundamentally different in how it trains and how it promotes careers. Aside from moving into higher levels of technology, tomorrow's warrior will have to know more than one language. With its various combat and peacekeeping forces scattered around the globe, soldiers are increasingly asked to be interpreters. In many remote areas, the language barrier becomes as real as concertina wire to an infantryman.

Learning a second or even a third language already has monetary benefits. Foreign Language Proficiency Pay for active-duty service members ranges from $300 to $1,000 per month and tops out at $500 a month for members of the National Guard and Reserve. Extra language skills set you apart and can put you on the fast track to career advancement. Best of all, language training is free. From full-time immersion classes to online courses that let you learn at your own pace, the military provides many ways to pick up language skills for little or no cost.

One of the most popular language training courses is Rosetta Stone. Service members in the Army and Marine Corps can take any of Rosetta Stone’s 31 popular online courses for free. Active-duty soldiers earn one promotion point for each five hours of training credit. New courseware with military-specific content is now available for Dari, Pashto, Urdu, Iraqi Arabic, Swahili and Bahasa Indonesian.

Keep in mind that the language skills you learn today will pay later as hiring managers place a premium on employees who can speak a second language. Research suggests those who speak at least two languages have an average annual income $10,000 higher.

Check out this informative video, Military Language Instructor.

For more information on Armed Services jobs, check out: