Learn a Foreign Language As an Engineer?

Ben B writes "I'm working on an undergraduate degree in computer engineering in the US, and I'm a native English-speaking citizen. In fact, English is the only language that I know. Maybe it's not the same at other schools, but for the engineering program at mine, a foreign language is not required. If my plans are to one day be involved in research, is it worth my time to learn a foreign language? If so, which one?" Learning something new is almost never a waste of time, but how much energy have others found worthwhile to expend with all of the programming/math/tech type courses to be had at a large university?

Comments

It's not "which" but "how" that is important

[feranick]

You can really learn any language and you should pick one depending on your interest (learning something you have no interest is both pointless and useless). However for any language, what is really important is how you learn it. Lot's of people claim to know languages, when in fact they know a few scattered words (I have interviewed people with "fluent" Italian according to the CV that didn't really know the language at all). How you learn the language is crucial. A good instructor is a good start, followed by a good program that doesn't give you only the basics to pass the exam, but a real grasp of the language. Then the REAL way to get fluent is top spend time in that country, living with the locals. The language is more than a dictionary, it's a cultural combination of factors that go beyond memorization and practice, and involve social interaction. You might not find it useful per se as an engineer, but also learning how engineers live and work in other country may teach you better ways to do your work. All this is way more important than which language to pick.

I know several...

[croftj]

I started with BASIC, then learned 6800/68000 assembly, then C then bourn shell, perl,, then C++.

  My latest and the one I was dragged into kicking and screeming was Java. I think it's like the drink, I'll just piss my life away if I continue to consume it.