Do you speak another language other than the national language of your country? If so then you might just be sitting on some extra cash flow that you have yet to tap into. It’s becoming more and more common for citizens to pick up another language to further diversify more than just their portfolios. Learning a new language comes with many benefits. It can allow you to relate easier to another culture, help to immerse yourself into another world if you travel, and it can make you marketable to employers that originally did not have their doors open to you. With this need comes a need for those who can teach the language to others who want to learn but don’t have the current time to make it to a typical institution to obtain the workings of the language.
This is where you come in. If you have another language in your back pocket, you become a tutor of that language. If you’re good, you can easily charge $50/hour for your services in a one on one setting. This however can be higher if the market needs someone who speaks your specific language and there aren’t enough tutors available. You’ll obviously adjust your prices to fit the current market. With this being said, if you have a very common second language, you may have to charge less in order to obtain clients. This can be done via Skype or other providers over the internet as well so you can broaden your range. I’ve even read articles where others use these services to teach English second language speakers English if that’s the only language you know.
A second way that you can make money from your second language is to use it as a bargaining tool for obtaining a promotion or to obtain a new job. Many employers have the need for a bilingual or better speaker but they have a hard time filling these positions because most people do not filter their job searches by this requirement. If you update your resume with a highlight on your second or third language, it could give you a leg up on the competition or find employers that typically don’t pop up otherwise by your own job searches. Many employers will pay you a premium if you are willing to work in both languages.
Finally, a third way is by offering free lance services. If you haven’t advertised yourself on Craigslist or other mainstream websites for your language speaking skills, it may be time to look at that avenue. In my area alone there are many jobs on boards that are requesting translation services for even a single night at random events. This can also help you stand out to employers that may just be hovering on those boards looking at other avenues to find someone just like you!
If on the other hand you are a learner of a new language such as myself (currently trying to learn Japanese) and you are in need of someone who is offering their services to teach you, you’ll want to aim inversely of what I have stated above. Use the information stated above to find people who know a second language that you are trying to learn and obtain their help at a discount. I myself currently sought the help of someone who knew Japanese to try to accelerate my self-teaching lessons. Instead of paying someone online to help me since the rates for the language were pretty outrageous because of the lack of tutors who offered it, I found a friend who had taken a few years of it in college and asked if they would be willing to help me for free. By this avenue, I obtained help learning a second language without dropping even a penny out of my pocket.
Hopefully after reading this, many of you have opened yourselves up to the idea of making money with a second or third language. Whether you already know another language or if you want to pick one up after learning how it could produce capital for you, it’s hard to argue that it’s a valuable asset to anyone wanting to make a little side cash.
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