Fluency in a foreign language can translate into a world of professional possibilities.

THREE YEARS AGO, EDWARD HARLEY WAS AN ENGLISH TEACHER at the Nova Language School in Tokyo. His class schedule found him beginning his day at 9 a.m. and wrapping up some 12 hours later. Of course long hours aren't an unusual component of most teachers' routines. In fact the only odd thing about his experience was the very subject he was teaching. Harley was instructing a class of adult Japanese students.

Speaking English is very trendy in Japan. But it's still rather uncommon for a 23-year-old African American to be teaching it to natives in Japan--a position that wound, of course, require him to be fluent in Japanese.

Whether you're living in a big city or a rural village, Japanese is not a language most African Americans are exposed to on a frequent basis. Harley admits he had a bit of a head start, because his paternal grandmother is Japanese. "I've been hearing bits and pieces of the language all mylife. But I didn't get serious about speaking Japanese until college," he says. So while he began studying a second language out of curiosity, it has since developed into a career opportunity that has taken him half way across the globe.

With the focus now on e-commerce and the integration of technology into the workplace, the old-fashioned skill of verbal communication threatens to get lost in the shuffle. But according to many career analysts, the demand for workers with bilingual abilities is actually on the rise as more Third World countries are becoming legitimate players in the business arena.

In some careers in the U.S. the ability to speak and write languages such as Spanish, French or German is looked upon as having a specialized skill. And employers are willing to pay for that skill. For example, in Los Angeles and Santa Barbara, California, police officers and firefighters can make an extra 5% to 10% on their salaries if they are fluent in Spanish.

So not everyone is giving the spoken word short shrift. Harley is just one of many African Americans to have taken his bilingual skills and turned them into moneymaking careers.

ORIENTING HIMSELF

Harley never thought of using his language skill as a career booster. During his senior year as an English major at Tulane University in New Orleans, he took a beginners level Japanese course on a whim and liked it. But after graduating in 1995, Harley decided he wanted to learn more by taking the international route. "I got on the Internet and found an ad from Nova, an educational company that trains and sends Americans to Japan to teach English."

Harley was chosen by Nova to go overseas to teach English for 14 months. But he soon decided his time in Japan wasn't enough. "I wanted to go back, this time to actually study Japanese," he says. "Teaching English in Japan only requires you to know rudimentary Japanese. I wanted to be fluent." So he returned to Japan on his own with a tourist visa and spent three intense months studying Japanese at the Kai Conversational School. Now fluent in the language, he returned home and currently works as a copy editor for S Plus Inc., a small graphic design and advertising company in New York City. Harley, who earns approximately $30,000 a year, ensures that any text translated to English from Japanese is grammatically and syntactically correct, and often acts as an English/Japanese liaison officer between the company and its clients, such as Canon, the maker of cameras and other electronic office equipment. "I enjoy what I'm doing and I'm happy I found a job that allows me to use my bilingual ability," he says.

Harley found just one niche where knowing a second language reaps rewards. But the demand for bilingual skills varies depending on the career you're exploring, says Donna Sabatino, operations manager at Career Blazers employment agency in New York City. "For instance, in the engineering/technical field, employees who speak Asian languages are in demand, while French and Spanish are the dominant languages in the social services and medical fields."

Alex Rodriguez, president and CEO of Diversity Consulting Group, a Santa Barbara, California-based executive search firm, says sales is also an area where second language skills are in high demand. "It can -break the ice, set the tone and establish a quick rapport." Rodriguez should know. Prior to working for the Group, he worked as a car salesman. "I was the only one of a group of salesmen who spoke Spanish and we worked on commission. I wound up handling all our Spanish-speaking clients. Needless to say, I was very successful."

GLOBAL PHILANTHROPY

As a program assistant for the World Bank, Josephine Armar works for the Washington, D.C.-based development assistance organization that lends money to impoverished countries across the globe. Working for a special program for the African Agricultural Division, Armar uses French to communicate with most of her clients in Africa.

"At the World Bank, employees are given a premium for being fluent in another language," says Armar, who earns approximately $44,000 a year. "Applicants have to be screened very carefully just to make sure they aren't boasting about language skills to obtain the premium," she says.

So how did she get there? The London native earned a bachelor's degree in languages at the Polytechnic of Central London University in London and a diploma in translation before completing her master's degree at George Mason University in Virginia. While pursuing her bachelor's degree, Armar spent a year abroad--dividing her time among Spain, Paris and the Ivory Coast. Before moving to the U.S. in 1986, she worked as a freelance French and Spanish translator in London.

Armar was still living in London when she first applied for a Spanish/English translator position at the World Bank. She was told there were no openings. Later, while vacationing in the U.S., she applied--in person--for a bilingual Spanish/ English secretarial position. This time she got the job. That was 13 years and a few promotions ago.

Armar's climb up the ladder isn't that unusual for someone with her linguistic background, says Yvette Madison, International Bilingual Recruiter for the Kent Agency in New York City. "All finance and finance-related occupations require some knowledge of other languages," she says. But Madison cautions bilingual job seekers to take a good look at the geographical area in which they want to work. "Because Spanish is the most common foreign language in most major metropolitan areas, you may make more money speaking fluent German, for example."

At the World Bank, Armar says her ability to speak multiple languages was the key to getting in the' door. "There are more bilingual positions here than [not]--economists, workers in the human development sector and engineers--because you're dealing with the whole world," she says. Armar actually speaks four languages fluently--English, French, Spanish and her native Ghanian tongue, Twi (pronounced `chee'). She is also studying a fifth, Ga, spoken by the tribe of the same name in Ghana.

A LINE ON COMMUNICATION

Language Line Inc. is an interpretation services company based in Monterey, California, that uses interpreters to translate the spoken and written word. For the past six years, Haitian-born Alex Fabien has worked out of his home in Miramar, Florida, interpreting French and Haitian Creole to English and vice versa. He got the job while attending Florida International University as a mathematics major. "A Language Line representative contacted someone from FIU's Career Office about available job opportunities," he says. "The Career Office called and asked me if I was interested." Fabien's interest earned him an enviable career. Working the night shift translating calls eight hours a day, Fabien is able to spend quality time with his wife and young daughters.

Using Language Line's services for phone calls is simple. If a caller needs to reach a business or household where English is not spoken, he or she calls Language Line and asks for an interpreter who speaks a particular dialect or language. "After the caller explains the nature of the call [e.g., business or personal], the conversation is then conducted with the help of the interpreter," he says.

Fabien, who earns approximately $40,000 a year, never thought his multilingual skills would present him with a job opportunity. "I get paid specifically because I speak more than one language. I know people who earn a living with other skills and abilities who have to use their linguistic skills, but they don't get paid for it" he says.

He's not done yet. Fabien also plans on adding Spanish to his repertoire. "A Spanish interpreter can earn more than I can because there's a larger cross section of the population that speaks Spanish," he says. In recent years, Florida has become a blossoming business center for South America and the Caribbean and the home of a vast Spanish-speaking immigrant population--largely from Cuba. But until Fabien masters that language, his current job is pretty secure. "French is an important language in South Florida because a lot of Canadians vacation and retire here," he says. "Many of [these Canadians] bring their businesses with them, or start anew once they get down here, so there's definitely [some opportunity for French speakers] in Florida."

PLAYING MATCHMAKER--THE LANGUAGE AND THE JOB

One of the best ways to find a bilingual job is to use an agency, says Sabatino. She also recommends contacting international divisions of major corporations like IBM. And of course, there's the Internet. "Monster Board and Career Mosaic are two excellent Websites to use if you're searching for any type of job," says Rodriguez. He also recommends browsing www.hoovers.com for information on publicly traded and privately held companies. When sending your resume to prospective employers, sell the fact that you're bilingual, says Rodriguez. It can only help your chances of landing the job. "Put the fact that you're bilingual at the top of your resume. Include your job objective statement," he says. "We have a global economy now. As more countries become contenders in the business world, there'll definitely be a need for people with bilingual ability."

TRANSLATE THIS!

AGENCIES                           BOOKS

Alex Rodriguez                     Careers for Foreign Language
 President and CEO                 Aficionados and Other
 Diversity Consulting Group        Multilingual Types
 3905 State St., Suite 7-231        by H. Ned Seelye and J.
 Santa Barbara, CA 93105            Laurence Day
 805-964-9393                       National Textbook Co.,
                                   $14.95

Donna Sabatino
 Operations Manager                Careers in International Affairs
 Career Blazers                     Edited by Maria Pinto
 590 Fifth Ave.                     Carland and Michael Trucano
 New York, NY 10036                 Georgetown University Press,
 212-719-3232                      $17.95

Yvette Madison                     Careers in International
 International                     Business
 Recruiter/Specialty Bilingual      by Edward J. Halloran
 Kent Agency                        VGM Professional Careers
 400 Madison Ave., Suite 310        Series, $13.95
 New York, NY 10017
 212-758-5353

AGENCIES                           WEBSITES

Alex Rodriguez                     BiLingual Jobs.com
 President and CEO                  www.bilingual-jobs.com
 Diversity Consulting Group
 3905 State St., Suite 7-231       Center for Applied Linguistics
 Santa Barbara, CA 93105            www.cal.org
 805-964-9393
                                   Foreign Language Career Chart
Donna Sabatino                      www.rths.rochelle.net/dept/
 Operations Manager                 lang/career.html
 Career Blazers
 590 Fifth Ave.                    National Council for Languages
 New York, NY 10036                and International Studies
 212-719-3232                       www.languagepolicy.org

Yvette Madison                     International Career
 International                     Employment Center
 Recruiter/Specialty Bilingual      www.internationaljobs.org/fita/
 Kent Agency
 400 Madison Ave., Suite 310
 New York, NY 10017
 212-758-5353