You may want to do it this way if you’re a financial worker, biologist, retail professional, or engineer. Basically, if you aren’t interacting with international customers, students, or foreign clients, it’s not worth a separate section.
You may want a separate section if you’re a teacher, translator, tutor, or in academia. If you really want to call attention to your language skills, you can place the “languages” section right below your “profile” or “summary. ”[3] X Research source You should probably include a languages section if you’re going to be traveling a lot for the job or if you’re going to be interacting with a lot of customers or clients that speak a particular language. You can still list the languages the same way you’d list skills, but you should still make it a separate section so it’s easy to find on the CV.
For example, you may write, “Creative and bilingual instructor with over 5 years of classroom experience. ” You could also say, “As a fluent writer in multiple languages, successfully crafted over 100 action plans for foreign-based clients. ” As an aside, you never use the pronoun “I” in your CV—even in the summary section. In order to write a strong career summary, it’s helpful to understand your key skills and which of those skills map to the competencies needed in the positions you are applying for. The summary should be brief — no more than two-three sentences — as you want to ensure the experience section of your resume doesn’t get bogged down by keywords or a lengthy overview.
Basic, or beginner – You have an elementary understanding of the language but you may have trouble in a conversation. In most cases, it isn’t worth mentioning basic language skills on a CV. [6] X Research source Conversational, or intermediate – You can hold a simple conversation and interpret common phrases/sentences with ease. You may struggle with context-dependent sentences, or misunderstand subtext. Advanced, or proficient – You can talk to any native speaker and understand them, but may need to focus to form complex sentences yourself. You may not know as many words, or speak as smoothly as someone native in the language. Fluent – You can speak, read, and write more-or-less perfectly in the language. You have no issues understanding native speakers.
For example, you may write, “Hungarian (fluent speaker, advanced writer),” or, “Conversational speaker in English. ” Just to clarify, you don’t need to write “French (fluent speaker, reader, and writer). ” If you’re fluent, just write, “French (fluent),” or, “Fluent in French. ”
A1 – You have a very basic understanding and can hold rudimentary conversations. A2 – You understand common phrases and can communicate in basic situations. B1 – You comprehend simple conversations and can communicate well with average speakers. B2 – You can engage in specialized conversations and read/write effectively in the language. C1 – You can complete complex tasks in the language and speak in a detailed, structured way. C2 – You are indistinguishable from a native speaker and can speak, read, and write fluently.
For example, you may write, “Fluent in Afrikaans (C2),” or, “Afrikaans (fluent – C2 on the CEFR scale). ” Another way to do it would be to write, “Basic speaker (A2) and conversational writer (B2) in Spanish,” or, “Basic Spanish speaker (A2) and conversational writer (B2). ”
You may write, “Highly proficient speaker and advanced writer in Russian,” or, “Thorough understanding of written Russian and proficient conversational speaker. ” Only do this if you explain your other skills the same way. You want the languages to match the rest of the CV visually and in terms of formatting.
If you aren’t using bullet points for your “skills” section and you’re adding a separate “languages” section, don’t use bullet points. As a rule of thumb, your “languages” should match your “skills” format. For example, if you’re using commas to offset skills, the “languages” section may look like this: Arabic (fluent), English (fluent), Dutch (conversational)
For example, if you’re applying to a job in France, your “languages” section may look like this: French (fluent – C2) English (fluent – C2) Russian (conversational – B1)
For example, if you’re applying to teach English in Japan, you may include the International English Language Test (IELTS), or the Test of English as a Foreign Language exam (TOEFL). [14] X Trustworthy Source Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations Specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for leading international efforts to end world hunger and improve nutrition Go to source Every language has its own proficiency tests and licenses, so you’re going to have to look up specific exams in your language if you want to pursue them. For example, the Diploma de Español como Lengua Extranjera (DELE) is a Spanish certification, while the TORFL-1 is a Russian certification. [15] X Trustworthy Source Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations Specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for leading international efforts to end world hunger and improve nutrition Go to source You may also include something like a foreign language teaching license. For example, you may write, “Pennsylvania Teaching Certificate – Instructional 1: Spanish, grades 7-12. ”
For example, you may write, “Wilson, L. (2018). Un Análisis de T. S. Eliot. Revisión Literaria. 86-90. ” to demonstrate that you’ve published work in another language. Be sure to use the untranslated title of the journal or book to signal it’s in a foreign language! You may also write, “Hosted a 20-minute lecture on Russian grammar and sentence formations at the 2016 Moscow Language Conference. ”
This is especially important if you’re applying for a job or position that requires proficiency in a specific language.
