Countries That Speak Your Language(s)
Knowing a foreign language can greatly expand the number of countries where you can work.
Keep these tips 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?
- You can purchase language books which focus on business vocabulary.
- Make sure you at least acquire a "getting around" vocabulary, and are able to communicate with waiters, taxi drivers, etc.
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
Chinese
English
French
German
Portuguese
Spanish
Additional Languages and Countries Where Spoken
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 the secondary language:
Central African Republic
Eritrea
Iran
Israel
Maldives
Somalia
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
Countries where English is the primary language:
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 in those locations. 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.
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
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
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
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
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 is the secondary language:
Andorra
Belize
Morocco
Trinidad & Tobago
United States
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, & the 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
Luxembourgish-- 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 & Herzegovina
Serbo-Croatian-- Serbia
Slovak-- Slovakia
Sloven-- 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