What Countries Speak Your Language?
If you know a foreign language, consider working in a country where that language is used.
Keep in mind:
- Translating and interpreting positions demand the strongest language skills.
- Language requirements vary by country and position. In general, the stronger your second language skills, the better opportunities you will have for employment. .
- Continue taking language courses to improve your skills.
- It can be helpful to learn special terminology related to your desired field of employment.
- For example, if you're going into advertising, do you know the words for "layout" or "paste-up" or "marketing" in your second language?
- Make sure you at least acquire a "getting around" vocabulary, and are able to communicate with waiters, taxi drivers, etc.
- You can purchase language books which focus on business vocabulary.
The following languages are primary and/or secondary in many countries. Click on the language(s) you know to see where you might want to consider working and living:
ARABIC
Countries where Arabic is the primary language:
- Algeria
- Bahrain
- Chad
- Comoros
- Dijbouti
- Egypt
- Iraq
- Jordan
- Kuwait
- Lebanon
- Libya
- Mauritania
- Morocco
- Oman
- Qatar
- Saudi Arabia
- Sudan
- Syria
- Tunisia
- United Arab Emirates
- Republic of Yemen
- Western Sahara (Hassaniya Arabic; Moroccan Arabic)
- Yemen
Countries where Arabic is secondary language:
- Central African Republic
- Eritrea
- Iran
- Israel
- Maldives
- Somalia
CHINESE
Countries where Chinese is the primary language:
- People's Republic of China
- Taiwan (Mandarin)
Countries where Chinese is the secondary language:
- Brunei Darussalam
- Malaysia
- Singapore (Mandarin)
- Thailand
- Vietnam
English
More than 40 countries around the world consider English their primary language so if you would prefer to speak English exclusively you might want to look for opportunities here. Keep in mind, though, that you can obtain jobs in foreign countries where you don't know the language. For instance, to teach English as a second language you generally do not need to know the native language of the country in which you are teaching
Countries where English is the primary language:
- Antigua and Barbuda
- Australia
- Bahamas
- Barbados
- Belize
- Botswana
- Cameroon
- Canada
- Dominica
- Ghana
- Grenada
- The Grenadines
- Guyana
- Ireland
- Jamaica
- Kenya
- Kiribati
- Lesotho
- Liberia
- Malawi
- Mauritius
- Micronesia
- Namibia
- New Zealand
- Nigeria
- Papua New Guinea
- Philippines
- St. Kitts
- St. Lucia
- St.Vincent
- Seychelles
- Sierra Leone
- Solomon Islands
- South Africa
- Swaziland
- Trinidad & Tobago
- Uganda
- United Kingdom
- United States
- Zambia
- Zimbabwe
Countries where English is the secondary language:
- Argentina
- Bahrain
- Bangladesh
- Brunei
- Cambodia
- Congo
- Cyprus
- Dominican Republic
- East Timor
- Equatorial Guinea
- Estonia
- Ethiopia
- Fiji
- The Gambia
- Honduras
- India
- Indonesia
- Israel
- Jordan
- Kuwait
- Laos
- Lebanon
- Libya
- Malaysia
- Maldives
- Malta
- Marshall Islands
- Monaco
- Namibia
- Nauru
- Oman
- Pakistan
- Palau
- Panama
- Qatar
- Rwanda
- Samoa
- Saudi Arabia
- Singapore
- Somalia
- Sri Lanka
- Sudan
- Suriname
- Syria
- Tanzania
- Thailand
- Tonga
- Tuvalu
- United Arab Emirates
- Vietnam
FRENCH
Countries where French is the primary language:
- Benin
- Burkina Faso
- Burundi
- Cameroon
- Central African Republic
- Chad
- Congo
- Congo, Democratic Republic of
- Cote d'Ivoire
- France
- Gabon
- Guinea
- Mali
- Monaco
- Niger
- Senegal
Countries where French is the secondary language:
- Algeria
- Andorra
- Argentina
- Belgium
- Canada
- Cambodia
- Comoros
- Djibouti
- Dominica
- Equatorial Guinea
- Haiti
- Italy
- Laos
- Lebanon
- Luxembourg
- Madagascar
- Mauritania
- Mauritius
- Morocco
- Rwanda
- St Vincent and the Grenadines
- Seychelles
- Switzerland
- Syria
- Togo
- Trinidad & Tobago
- Tunisia
- Vanuatu
- Vietnam
GERMAN
Countries where German is the primary language:
- Austria
- Germany
- Liechtenstein
- Switzerland
Countries where German is the secondary language:
- Argentina
- Belgium
- Denmark
- Italy
- Luxembourg
- Namibia
- Romania
PORTUGUESE
Countries where Portuguese is the primary language:
- Brazil
- Cape Verde
- Guinea-Bissau (Portuguese Criolo)
- Mozambique
- Portugal
- Sao Tome & Principe
Countries where Portuguese is the secondary language:
- Angola
SPANISH
Countries where Spanish is the primary language:
- Argentina
- Bolivia
- Chile
- Colombia
- Costa Rica
- Cuba
- Dominican Republic
- Ecuador
- El Salvador
- Equatorial Guinea
- Guatemala
- Honduras
- Mexico
- Nicaragua
- Panama
- Paraguay
- Peru
- Spain
- Uruguay
- Venezuela
Countries where Spanish in the secondary language:
- Andorra
- Belize
- Morocco
- Trinidad & Tobago
- United States
Listing of Additional Primary Languages and Country (Alphabetical)
LANGUAGE |
COUNTRY |
Afar |
Eritrea |
Afrikaans |
South Africa; Namibia |
Albanian |
Albania |
Amharic |
Ethiopia |
Armenian |
Armenia |
Azerbaijani |
Azerbaijan |
Bahasa Indonesia |
Indonesia |
Bangla |
Bangladesh |
Bokmel |
Norway |
Bulgarian |
Bulgaria |
Burmese |
Burma (Myanmar) |
Khmer |
Cambodia |
Catalan |
Andorra |
Creole |
Haiti |
Croatian |
Croatia; Bosnia |
Czech |
Czech Republic |
Danish |
Denmark |
Dutch |
Surinam; The Netherlands; Belgium |
Dzongkha |
Bhutan |
Estonian |
Estonia |
Farsi (Persian) |
Iran; Afghanistan; Persian Gulf |
Fijian |
Fiji |
Filipino |
The Philippines |
Finnish |
Finland |
Georgian |
Georgia |
Greek |
Greece, Cyprus |
Hebrew |
Israel |
Hindi |
India |
Hungarian |
Hungary |
Icelandic |
Iceland |
Italian |
Italy; Sicily; San Marino |
Japanese |
Japan |
Kazakh |
Kazakhstan |
Kinyarwanda |
Rwanda |
Kirundi |
Burundi |
Korean |
North & South Korea |
Kurdish |
Iraq |
Kyrgyz |
Kyrgyzstan |
Lao |
Laos |
Latin |
Vatican City |
Latvian |
Latvia |
Lithuanian |
Lithuania |
Luxermbourgish |
Luxembourg |
Macedonian |
Macedonia |
Malagasy |
Madagascar |
Malay |
Malaysia; Singapore |
Maltese |
Malta |
Moldovan |
Moldova |
Mongolian |
Mongolia |
Nepali |
Nepal |
Pashto |
Afghanistan |
Persian |
Iran |
Punjabi |
Pakistan |
Palauan |
Palau |
Polish |
Poland |
Romanian |
Romania |
Serbian |
Bosnia and Herzegovina |
Serbo-Croatian |
Serbia |
Slovak |
Slovakia |
Slovene |
Slovenia |
Somali |
Somalia |
Sinhala |
Sri Lanka |
Swahili |
Tanzania; Kenya |
Swedish |
Sweden |
Tajik |
Tajikistan |
Thai |
Thailand |
Turkish |
Turkey |
Turkmen |
Turkmenistan |
Tuvaluan |
Tuvalu |
Ukrainian |
Ukraine |
Urdu |
India |
Uzbek |
Uzbekistan |
Vietnamese |
Vietnam |