Which New Language Should You Learn?

If you are reading this post, congratulations! According to this article in Money, Inc. by Dana Hanson you are fluent in the most spoken language on the planet. As an actor, that’s fantastic, because so many film, television and new media scripts are filmed predominantly in English.

But is ‘predominantly’ enough to keep your work as an actor as marketable as possible, and give you the chance to take your career to the next level?

Consider this:

In the past several years have brought a major increase in the number of bilingual and multi-lingual scenes within projects. (If you have had the pleasure of watching the recently released film ‘Everything, Everywhere, All of the Time’, you have seen an example of producers trusting that audiences are eager to communicate in multiple languages when it makes for a rich story.)

It’s likely that this heartening trend will continue, and actors who can communicate in more than one language will see themselves with more casting opportunities.

But which language should you learn?

My advice is to take the following five steps:

1) Take a look at your acting career. Have you often been asked if you are fluent in a specific language beyond English?

2) Talk with your talent rep. Do they see specific casting opportunities for you that would come with the addition of a specific language?

3) Consider which language(s) you speak a little bit of already. Perhaps you took a few years in highschool, but have let a language lapse?

4) Check out the article in Money, Inc. I mentioned at the start of this post. Which languages are the most spoken in the world? These are the languages are highly likely to appear in film, tv and new media projects.

5) Check your personal wish list. Which languages sound exciting to you?

Gather thoughtful answers for each of these questions, and you’ll likely notice that there will be a language that is a clear winner for you!