obviously it depends both on your country and whether you're an academic or professional...

as an academic, french and german are the most useful as there are a lot of important texts that haven't been translated into english...

as a practitioner in the US, spanish is BY FAR the most useful since such a large percentage of the labor force are native spanish speakers...

For practical purposes, it depends on the region where you live/work. So if you live anywhere near the southern areas of the US, specifically the southwest, then se habla espanol?

Mandarin. Look at the job board and you will likely find more jobs looking for people who speak English and Mandarin than any other language. All the work is in China and offices need people who speak the language.

No point learning spanish. There is no work in the US anyways.
Mandarin. Mandarin. Mandarin. An architect who speaks mandarin is quite simply put, invaluable.

I guess another language is a definite plus.

However, hiring a fine translator seems to work just as well as being able to speak the language. Wouldn't this be true? if so, then what is the point of taking painful attempts to learn a new language?

A bilingual architect, is he really invaluable? if so, how much? other than gaining more marketability in his resume, is there any direct benefit he enjoys as a bilingual architect?

There ARE direct benefits, a lot of them.
For example, I was recently in China presenting something. We had our client's translators. On the other hand, we had a canadian architect who spoke perfect mandarin.
The clients bonded with him instantly, making their work much easier.

On top of that, when one learns a language, they also learn a lot more about the intrinsic culture of the people. This is much more valuable than the business opportunities.

Unicorn ... you, and all of your aliases, are such a self-absorbed dick.

Babs, do you speak the русский язык?

хуй!

I'm not fluent, but have a good grasp of 2 (Italian and Spanish) and some knowledge of a few more. Foreign language for an architect is almost entirely for the cultural benefit. Language can teach you a different way of seeing. Foreign language opens students up to other ways of expressing ideas and thoughts, which creates valuable connections in the brain. Also helps with travel, which is good if you don't want to order the veal b/c you are vegetarian. :)

I now work with language and literacy, and it is one of our practices to deconstruct words and theorize out how words relate or came to be in English, which strengthens comprehension, vocabulary and expression.

So if you're contemplating picking one, I'd say, whatever language you are interested in AND likely to use, and therefore keep up with!

Example, knowing a latin language can help see why the following words relate, strengthening the mental concept of all 3: stand, establish, and institution.

I've been studying Mandarin (2 years) and French (4 years) and I hope its going to pay off when I get out of grad school. But if not, it'll make traveling that much more convenient.

And a licensed architect fluent in Mandarin who happens to be of anglo origins and actually wants to live in China is invaluable

Learn a language because you want to, not because it will make your CV stick out in the pile or advance your carear. It's not like it'll be an easy star to put on your CV either. It's not the same as studying for your LEED exam. It takes lots of time (years) and dedication. How many people do you know that took Spanish in high school actually speak Spanish today? I speak from experience when I say the only real way you'll be able to speak another language is by completely immersing yourself in a foreign setting for an extended period of time.

What role does it play? It's language. It's communication. It means opening up a door to a whole new group of people that you couldn't communicate with before. Valuable or not in the eyes of others.. who cares. I speak two languages and you don't. And I'm better off for it.

"And a licensed architect fluent in Mandarin who happens to be of anglo origins and actually wants to live in China is invaluable"

LOL, what makes the "anglo" origins special over, let's say, Japanese or German origins?

Anyway, I feel the language thing is a bit overrated IMHO, specially for architecture and real estate businesses. I have been working in a country in SE Asia for a year (not China btw) and with my English (as a 2nd language as you probably noticed already), I perfectly manage at job. I don't feel I have lost any work opportunity here because of my lack of the language. I think it is quite naive to think that because somebody speaks Mandarin it will land you in a $100k job and a flashy apartment in Shanghai's Bund after graduation. Actually tons of local students speak perfect Mandarin and very good English and they do not do that salary. Not to mention the huge amount of Asian-Americans who can speak Chinese and know the culture. Obviously, speaking Mandarin won't hurt and it shows an interest in the culture.

As for friends who lived in HK or Shanghai, they agreed that the language is not the tricky point in China and it is perfectly possible to run/do businesses with English-only. At the end of the day you are working/hired there because of your architectural/design/construction skills/knowledge, not because of your proficiency of Chinese or the local language.

Obviously this is not applicable to most of Europe where most countries are very fond of their native languages and it would be much harder to work without speaking French/German/Italian/Spanish. But I know English-native people who worked in Switzerland, Germany and France (figure it out, France!) in architecture just with English because of their exceptional design skills.

I'm horrible with languages but as in practice as an architect and an educator I really wish I had a grasp of them. If I had to choose two to learn it would be Spanish and Mandarin (wider base of language and shares commonality with more Chinese dialects). The Spanish aside from the Hispanic relationship within the Caribbean and Atlantic, there is also a culture of writing that has only been produced in Spanish books. And Mandarin because well 850 million couldn't be wrong

I speak spanish fluently and haven't had any use for it in my professional career. It is possible that it's circumstantial based on my job location/client/type, but I haven't seen a benefit for it professionally. However, that being said, I recommend learning one even if it won't necessarily help. It's an invaluable tool and it opens doors that you might not expect.

What language do you want to speak? Cause that's what I think it boils down to.

As has been mentioned by Hawkin (and others), a knowledge of English (combined with a good command of design) is enough to land you a job in many places. Being multi-lingual is certainly a good thing for numerous reasons, but it's really not going to immediately fling open hundreds of doors in the job world.

And just for the record, I'm working in Germany and got the job with no previous knowledge of the language. I have tons of friends in the same boat; from Germany, to Switzerland, Denmark, Holland, Catalunya, HK,and mainland China. Obviously, advancing in the native tounge will certainly help in my/our/your proffessional and personal life, but it isn't always requisite for employment. In many instances, I think a strong portfolio/CV and a willingness to travel/try something new are just as important in landing a job in a foreign land.

If you want to talk to framers, drywallers, and painters in new england it helps to know portuguese. Snook can attest to that I'm sure... same is true in socal for spanish. contractually you shouldn't be talking to those guys anyway, although we all know it doesn't quite always work that way on the job site...

I talked with my polish mate about this, commenting to him that speaking polska aswell as english must be an advantage. He was quite dismisve and said that as long as you speak english things are sweet. This was a few years ago mind, and im sure anyone fluent in chink speak would be headhunted in todays market.

I second IamGray, I‘m also working in Germany and mainly use english. This is the case in other countries I have worked in Europe and is the case for most of the architects I know here (whether English speaking natives or not) who choose to work in countries outside of their homeland. Also, not to forget, learning a new language is seriously a tough thing to do, it takes time and is frustrating. If you choose to start learning a new language, choose one that interests you so you will continue to pursue it when it gets difficult.

I travel with my wife cause she speaks several languages.. portugese, spanish, italian, french, hebrew and of course English or I wouldn't be able to understand her....I'm mono language.