Spanish has the potential to open so many doors today. In Illinois, for example, you can get provisional teaching certification based on your language skills. I became a bilingual teacher essentially by passing a language test, after I decided to exit larger, high school math classes. I liked smaller classes and younger kids, so I switched. Changing teaching assignments proved effortless. Many bilingual positions in Illinois remain unfilled as of today, weeks into most districts’ school years.

One of my favorite colleagues found himself unable to get a position as a history teacher — a common situation — and decided to learn Spanish. A couple of years later, he took a position as a bilingual social studies and language arts teacher. I loved the part where he worked part-time in Denny’s Restaurant so he could practice his growing language skills.

In my bilingual and English as a Second Language (ESL) classes, people of all ages and differing experience levels were studying ESL specifically because they could not find teaching positions. ESL will help with finding a position, but the area of screaming need is currently Spanish. If you can speak Spanish and acquire related certifications, you will have excellent odds of finding a job and keeping a job. I was riffed the first three years in my last district, but I never worried, except during one particularly desperate year. The bilingual director assured us we would be back in the fall and, due to the shortage of bilingual teachers, no member of our department expected to actually be let go. During that one problematic year, I knew that I could find a position elsewhere if the district did not manage to scrounge up more funding.

Community colleges will be a relatively inexpensive place to start refreshing or acquiring your Spanish. Sometimes districts will pay for the classes, too. Libraries carry CDs you can use to practice in the car. Subtitles on DVDs provide practice with pictures to help you understand what you are reading. As you improve, you can switch to dubbed Spanish with English subtitles. I recommend buying translations of favorite books and reading those at bedtime. As an added bonus, until you become proficient, you are likely to find that reading a foreign language puts you to sleep.

Yes, acquiring a language will take time. Spanish will be a journey of 1,000 miles or more. But you can do this one step at a time, in trips to work, reruns of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and nights of Stephen King chapters.

That journey of 1,000 miles? You could begin today by looking for Spanish classes offered online or at a nearby college.*

*If you are teaching, check with your district about reimbursement policies before you sign up. Sometimes you need pre-approval to get reimbursed.