Livin’ La Vida Language
Multilingual professionals are highly prized, so why not be one?
While English may be the most commonly used language in the global business world, not everyone prefers to speak it. For this reason, bilingual or multilingual speakers are highly coveted by employers. Luis Larrea, a DePaul University professor who specializes in international business and marketing, believes the benefits of being a multilingual professional are endless. “The more you know about the country (language and culture), the better position you’re in to do business,” he says. “It’s all about relationships.” Several foreign language academies around town offer a variety of classes for professionals with busy schedules.
Multilingual Chicago
2934 North Milwaukee Avenue, Suite C, 773.292.7676
Nestled between numerous banks and furniture stores, on a bustling stretch of North Milwaukee Avenue sits the foreign language academy Multilingual Chicago. The center grew out of owner and linguistic anthropologist Jill Bishop’s primary company, Workforce Language Services, which provides language training and translation services for many businesses such as Orbitz and Lou Malnati’s. Mrs. Bishop turned her attention to providing language-learning classes to both adults and children in her Logan Square offices. Multilingual Chicago – only 11 months old and still expanding – offers the traditional weekly class in Spanish, French, Mandarin Chinese, Arabic, and more. A two-hour, eight-week class starts at $299.
For those with less time to devote to studies, Multilingual Chicago also offers a seven-hour boot camp ($150) on Sundays to quickly expose students to a language through vocabulary and practical applications; students will visit neighboring restaurants in the area during lunch break.
In addition to classes, Multilingual Chicago cooks up fun cultural events for the center’s students and casual observers. “Culture is a very important part of language,” Mrs. Bishop says. “In order to ensure that we’re exposing our students not just to verb conjugations but the real world, we try to include culture at every step.” Attend one of Multilingual Chicago’s cooking demonstration at Real Tenochtitlan (pictured above) to practice your newfound skills with other students.
If you find that you learn better privately rather than sitting with strangers, Multilingual also offers private tutorials both at its facilities or your location. The center also offers a 10 percent “transitional” discount to those who are currently in-between jobs.
Photo courtesy of Multilingual Chicago.
Audrey Leon is a Chicago-based writer specializing in all things related to the Windy City.
