Become Bilingual, Boost Your Career

By: Randy Dotinga To judge by all the quickie Spanish classes offered at newspapers across the country, picking up a second language must be a snap. And the accompanying career boost can't be too far behind.

In reality, bilingual skills take years of intensive study. But fluency in a second language is indeed a hot commodity in hundreds of newsrooms, a far cry from just two decades ago, when a young reporter named Julio Moran found himself one of just a handful of Latino reporters at the Los Angeles Times.

Bilingualism "has become much more valuable," said Moran, who's now executive director of the California Chicano News Media Association. "It is a skill that in some cases may allow people to jump a few steps to get to the bigger markets."

Even the second-largest newspaper in North Carolina, a state not known for its diversity of languages, is learning to appreciate bilingual staffers. "We've been placing a higher premium on Spanish speakers for the past three years," said executive editor Melanie Sills of The News & Observer in Raleigh. "There's been a rapid increase in Spanish-speaking residents. They're maybe 5% to 7% of the population, and there are a lot of stories to cover. We look for (bilingualism) in photographers and reporters, just about everybody."

But Sills has learned that not everyone is as bilingual as they claim. "Years ago we hired someone who said he spoke Spanish but didn't. We found out the hard way."

Some newspapers have found ways around this potential problem by confirming that applicants are as bilingual as they say they are. The (Riverside, Calif.) Press-Enterprise used an outside agency to gauge the Spanish skills of reporter applicant Sharyn Obsatz, who now covers immigration and multicultural issues.

Obsatz likes the freedom that her second-language skills bring. "You feel useful, and it makes you feel like you're getting voices into the paper that have never been in the paper before," she said. "You interview people who didn't know their opinion matters. That's very satisfying."

She doesn't mind acting as a translator for other reporters, a job that gives her either a tagline or half of a double byline. But other newspapers aren't so accommodating, said Moran of the Chicano news association.

"Editors sometimes see bilingual reporters as translators and forget that they are reporters too," Moran said. "They ought to assign the Spanish speakers to do the stories, not simply to serve as translators."

Moran urges Latino journalism students to become fluent in Spanish if they aren't already. "It is almost a detriment to have a Spanish surname and not be able to speak Spanish," he said. "A lot of newspapers talk about looking for Latino reporters when what they really want is a bilingual reporter."

But learning a second language takes time, even for those who may have grown up with some exposure to one. Simply learning a language like Spanish or French at a "survival" level -- allowing you to ask and answer simple questions -- can take 150 to 300 hours of instruction, said Elizabeth Bernhardt, director of the language center at Stanford University. That's the equivalent of one or two years of education at four to five hours a week.

True fluency takes four or five years, Bernhardt said, although immersion in a language -- usually through an extended visit to a foreign country -- can quicken the process.

Languages like Spanish, French and Italian are the easiest for English speakers to learn, Bernhardt said. (The latter two, however, aren't much in demand for American journalists.)

German, Thai, Vietnamese and Hebrew are harder, and the toughest languages are Arabic, Chinese and Korean, she said. "It probably takes twice as long to get to the same level (as in Spanish)."

The good news? Those Spanish classes you took years ago aren't lost for good. "We know that when learners go back into the classroom, they can remember that stuff they had in high school and build on it rather quickly," Bernhardt said. "It is amazing how much you can recall, especially when you need to. It's still there."