Q. How can I find information on the importance of a world language for a particular career?

Searching for information about the benefit of speaking a second (or third!) language in a career context can be difficult.  You will need to think carefully about the keywords you use to search.

Start by listing words that describe the concepts you have in mind. Consider general and specific terms...and terms that are similar!  For example:

Now, combine words from each of your concept lists. Use the Boolean operator AND to connect your keywords (note: it must be capitalized). To search for an exact phrase (two or more words together) you may need to put them within quotation marks.

Examples:

• "Spanish language" AND nursing AND benefit

• bilingual AND "social work" AND value

Sometimes it may be difficult to find resources that discuss the benefits of a specific language for a specific career. In these cases, you can broaden your keywords, to search for the benefits of speaking more than one language in a wider context.

For example, instead of searching for:

• Spanish AND nursing AND value

You could try something like these:

• bilingual AND "medical professional" AND value
• "foreign language" AND medicine AND importance

Also check out the "Career" section at the bottom of your language's subject page for more resources. All subject pages can be found under "Subjects A-Z" in the library's main menu. A full list is also available here.

If you are new to searching in the library, follow the steps in these FAQs to find articles and books:

• How do I search for articles in the APUS Library?

• How do I search for books in the APUS Library?

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