Looking to start work in France some time soon? Mister Bilingue is here to recommend the best languages to learn for finding a bilingual job quickly!
Speaking one or more foreign languages is always an asset in life. It's even better when a language can help us to find a job quickly!
In France, the world of work is becoming an increasingly international space, with employees coming from a variety of different countries and cultures. One benefit of this professional melting pot is that companies can broaden the spectrum of their potential customer base by reaching previously inaccessible markets due to language or culture barriers.
If you're already bilingual or want to learn a new language, we suggest giving this article a read to find out which languages are the most useful when it comes to finding a job in France!
Of course, certain languages may be more or less useful to you depending on your profile and your professional objectives. That's why it's important to bear in mind your specific needs and interests as you read this article, to make sure that you can come away with the best choice of language or languages for your professional career.
Have you got your dictionary handy? Let's go, time to look at the best languages for getting a job in France!
If you want to work in France, French is without a doubt the most useful language for finding a job quickly. As the fifth most spoken language in the world and with nearly 300 million speakers, French is the way to go for integrating into French life, personally and professionally. Aside from English, the language of love is the most widely spoken language in Europe, ahead of German, Spanish and even Russian!
French isn't the easiest language to learn, but it'll certainly be a valuable string to your bow if you plan on living in France. There are some excellent schools for learning French in Paris (we even listed them in this article) and if following a course in Paris isn't in an option for you, you can learn French online with one of the several apps that we've explained for you here!
Second only to French, English is a no-brainer for finding a job in France. As the most widely spoken language in Europe, English wields the strongest linguistic power in the world. It's spoken as a second language by more than 750 million people worldwide, not to mention its 300 million native speakers.
Even though it's on the decline in the global context, English is still the most popular choice of foreign language in schools in France. And even if the French have a little trouble with languages, English is a must for broadening your communication skills and professional opportunities.
But, don't be fooled: English isn't enough to set you apart from other candidates, precisely because it's become such a basic expectation among French companies. So, if you really want to make English a professional asset, it's all the more important to make sure that it's perfect!
To sum up, English is just like having a degree these days: if you have one, it doesn't change a thing; if you don't, it changes everything!
If you're looking to work in commerce in France, learning German is a good idea. Why's that, you ask? To put it simply, Germany is France's most significant European trading partner by far, with imports and exports between the two countries representing more than 15% of France's trade activity! This is why you'll find that 10% of the jobs that require a foreign language in France ask for German, and a third of these jobs are located in the Alsace-Lorraine region, for geographical and historical reasons.
That being said, German is a relatively difficult language to learn and few people can speak it fluently upon leaving school. On the other side of the coin, Germans generally speak English very well and they will most likely choose to interact with you in English if they have the impression that your German isn't up to scratch.
If you decide to learn the language of Goethe, you'll need patience and motivation to take it to a professional level, but the benefits this will have for your career in France are undoubtable!
Thanks to its geographic proximity to France, Spain is another significant player in the French economy. With a market share of 6.5% in 2018, the home of tapas comes in as France's fourth supplier!
What's more, Spanish comes in as the second most powerful language, with around 460 million native speakers and more than 530 million total speakers in the world! With increasing levels of trade between the emerging nations of South America and Europe (France included), learning Spanish could prove to be a valuable asset in the years to come, especially for anyone with an interest in trade!
Of course, your high school Spanish won't be enough to give you professional flair, but Spanish is one of the easiest languages to learn and has a lot in common with French. So what are you waiting for? Time to dust off the Spanish books and impress those French colleagues!
Just like the United Kingdom, Germany and Spain, Italy has strong commercial and historical ties with France. Italy is also the second importer of French goods in Europe, while France imports no less than 10% of its products from the home of Dante!
With nearly 12,000 job offers in France requiring knowledge of Italian, it's clear that French recruiters are particularly interested in candidates with fluency in the language, particularly in the commercial sector (representing 35% of job offers), the financial sector (14%) and executive roles (8%).
Finally, it's worth noting that Italian, along with Spanish, is probably one of the easiest languages to learn, especially if you already speak French. And if that isn't enough to convince you, another good reason to get started in this beautiful language is the effect it'll have on your hands – it might not be enough to clinch a job but it'll sure look good when you're chatting with friends!
Although the Arab countries are not currently among France's main trading partners, Arabic is more and more in demand with recruiters, ranking fifth among the most sought-after languages in France!
As well as being a major world language with more than 300 million native speakers worldwide, the importance of Arabic in professional fields is on the up (and not just in the oil and defence sectors).
Arabic is widely spoken in both Asia and in Africa, where trade is set to increase in the coming decades in line with the economic development of emerging countries.
Finally, it's the language that opens the door to the highest proportion of permanent job contracts (the famous "CDI") in France, accounting for 58% of permanent positions against around 50% for other foreign languages. Something to bear in mind in what is an increasingly precarious job market!
The Netherlands is a small country whose language is little spoken, so you could be forgiven for wondering if it'll even still be around in centuries to come…
That being said, the Netherlands is just behind the United Kingdom in terms of commercial partnerships with France, representing nearly 6,000 job opportunities, including more than a third in the commercial sector, logistics and IT.
You can hear Dutch being spoken in one of France's neighboring countries and second largest trading partner after Germany: Belgium. More than half of the Belgian population is fluent in Flemish, a group of dialects derived from Dutch, and although there are some differences between the two (especially in vocabulary and pronunciation), the two languages have a lot in common. Learning Dutch can therefore be a great way to appeal to recruiters with connections to both the Netherlands and to Belgium!
In the business world, knowing how to speak Chinese (particularly Mandarin and Cantonese) will soon be an essential skill for companies looking to export internationally.
With Mandarin being the most widely spoken language in the world (more so even than English and Spanish), France and other influential countries have begun to take an even closer interest in China as a significant trading partner. More than 850 French companies are based in China and this number is only going to rise in the context of the evolving relationship between the two nations. Trade between the two countries is growing every month, particularly in high demand sectors, such as retail, which currently represents 61% of the job offers in France for Chinese speakers.
But be warned: although it might seem like the perfect solution, Mandarin is also known to be one of the hardest languages to speak and write. But this means that if you do manage to master it, there's no doubt that you'll be head and shoulders above other candidates!
Even though the trade relationship between Portugal and France is fairly modest, one very successful export is the Portuguese language itself!
Portuguese is the first language in South America and the second in Latin America. That's why Portuguese is considered to be one of the most important languages for international communication, along with French, English and Spanish.
Representing half of South America in both area and population, Brazil has been one of France's major partners for several years now, and with an estimated 30,000 French expats currently living in Brazil, this relationship is only set to strengthen. What's more, Brazil is the leading importer of French products into Latin America, accounting for almost two-thirds of French exports to this area.
Now you know how invested France is in Brazil, what's stopping you from brushing up on your Portuguese?
Russian is the fifth most widely spoken language in Europe (especially in the Baltic countries), with a total of nearly 166 million native speakers spread across the world.
A major player in the energy industry, Russia has a strong economic presence across Europe and particularly in France, where relations between the two countries are both historically strong and geopolitically tense.
It's also worth pointing out that many Russians won't necessarily speak English or French. It's precisely for this reason that French companies are increasingly on the lookout for candidates with proficiency in Russian, in order to facilitate business with Russian-speaking companies.
Though it might not be quite as complicated as Mandarin, Russian is still up there as one of the most difficult languages to learn, especially when you take into account the Cyrillic alphabet, which can be tricky to memorize and pronounce. This means that you'll need a great deal of motivation to take your Russian from beginner to professional level. On the plus side, you'll finally be able to order a shot of vodka in your favourite bar with an authentic accent!
Congratulations, you now know all there is to know about the most useful languages for finding a bilingual job in France!
Of course, we've based our ranking on the languages that are most widely used in France and that recruiters are most interested in when they're looking to hire new candidates. Don't think of it as a comprehensive list of every useful language out there. There are plenty of other, slightly more unusual languages, such as Korean, Japanese, Turkish and Polish, for example, that may well be more advantageous to your profile. It all depends on your direction and ambitions.
So, no time to waste, time dust off the books and get started with whichever language best suits your profile. If you can master it to a professional level, it's a skill that's sure to open doors!
If you're stuck on how to write the perfect CV in French, make sure to check out our helpful article on this topic.
Or maybe you don't know where to start with finding a job in France? Help is just a click away!
Found the perfect job in France but not sure how to approach your first day? We've already thought about it for you and have all the tips you need to ensure a great first day and secure your position as the new favourite employee!
We hope that this advice has been helpful and we wish you all the best in your job search.
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