Asian languages in demand?

[tunlrat]

I'm thinking about taking an asian language course in order to become somewhat fluent enough to be picked up in the future by whatever Fed LE agency will hire me as an 1811. What asian languages are in high demand? I'm thinking Korean, since North Korea is technically still an "enemy." Mandarin is my 2nd choice, since the next olympics will be in Beijing in 2008. My vietnamese friend has encouraged me to take vietnamese because according to her it'll be easy to learn since they use the English alphabet--but I'm not sure if it's in demand though. What I don't want to do is spend loads of $$$ and years of serious study for a language that may or may not be useful to the Fed LE world. :confused:

I've HEARD that japanese is NOT one in demand. Only because one of my former co-workers at my old PD tried unsuccessfully to get into the DSS. There may have been other circumstances though as I don't know the whole story...

[Orleander]

Oh wow, they just had a thing on the local news about the surge in Arabic language studies at local collages.

[Bearcat06]

Just read online that Arabic, Farsi, Pashto, Urdu, Chinese, Turkish and Kurdish are the big ones that are bitting the FBI in the *** because they can't translate incoming messages fast enough due to the number of translators they don't have.

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor..._translation_7

[Group9]

We don't get many Asians in my agency and we have a need for Chinese (all dialects), Vietnamese, and Thai speakers. I know at one time, we only had two agents who could speak Vietnamese.

Look at the Asian languages being spoken by criminal gangs and those are the languages federal law enforcement needs. The problem is going to be staying fluent when you are not in a situation where you are constantly using the language.

That is the biggest downside to learning a language that is not being used a lot in the US.

[tunlrat]

When I was with my local PD in the "808" state, we constantly needed Korean interpreters. Especially for DUI arrests (when the taxi drivers CLAIMED they couldn't speak english) & when Vice would do "massage parlor" sweeps. Of course, japanese was needed when dealing with the tourists but they were usually victims not suspects. Mandarin was only useful only when legacy INS rented out cellblocks from us but they stopped that when the new Fed pen opened in 2001. I never ran across a Thai, Vietnamese, or Filipino (victim or suspect) who couldn't speak well enough english; but that was just MY experience...

[kihun_cha]

i'm korean
i speak korean and english as second language
trying to learn japanese too =P

okay it's really hard to learn asian language

[tunlrat]

I'm asian-american & I speak NO asian languages!! ;)

[Bearcat06]

When I was with my local PD in the "808" state, we constantly needed Korean interpreters. Especially for DUI arrests (when the taxi drivers CLAIMED they couldn't speak english) & when Vice would do "massage parlor" sweeps. Of course, japanese was needed when dealing with the tourists but they were usually victims not suspects. Mandarin was only useful only when legacy INS rented out cellblocks from us but they stopped that when the new Fed pen opened in 2001. I never ran across a Thai, Vietnamese, or Filipino (victim or suspect) who couldn't speak well enough english; but that was just MY experience...

Not to hijack the thread....but why did you leave the "808" area?

[tunlrat]

Long story man, long story....I do want to go back though. :rolleyes:

[Johninaustin]

Big demand here for Vietnamese/Korean, Down on the coast around Houston too. One unique thing here is Sign Language. We have a very high population due to the Texas School for the Deaf being here. I'll get calls for that maybe two, three times every two weeks. They finally pay us language comp for it now.

[mcsap]

My neice is currently an Arab Linguist in the US Army. Sher has already spent a year in Iraq and is probably going back. She will have some nice job options when she gets out. She also went to language school FULL TIME for about a year.

[nf9648]

Does pidgen count? Here is some of my skills...

"Da adda day I wen see my unkoo Robello an I wen *** dat faka for I like borro fitty-tree dallahs cuz I no get. Dat fakin guy he wen give me da stink eye lahdat and den he goin tell me he no have. Ho I stay so piss off right now!"

In english: "The other day as I strolled over to my Uncle Robellos I happened to ask if i may borrow $53. Unfortunately, he did not have the money and was upset that he could not help me out. Due to the fact that he did not have any money for me to borrow, I was sad for the rest of the day."

[tunlrat]

nf9648:
LOL! ;) Ho brah, dat one's too funny cuz!

Why does every sentence in pidgen begin with "ho?" Always "ho dis" and "ho dat?"