Traveling is good for your language skills, but an even better way to start speaking like the locals is to get a job in a Spanish-speaking country. If you're in school and have the opportunity to spend a semester abroad, you can find an internship that will help you improve your professional skills and your foreign language. And if you're out in the real world, there are many programs available to those interested in spending some time abroad. You can do volunteer work, teach English, or maybe even get a job in your career field.

Buscando empleo (Looking for a Job)

Putting Together a Resume

If you're serious about your job search, it'll help to have a good resume. If you've already got one in English, you'll have to change a few things, but the idea is the same. In your resume, include your name and address, date of birth, education, work experience, and skills.

Sample Resume

Datos personales Nombre y apellido: Janet Morton Lugar y fecha de nacimiento: San Francisco, 5 de abril de 1979 Dirección: 3 calle Main, #15, Boston, MA 01905 Teléfono: 617-555-1234

Formación El Colegio San Bernardo, 1993–1997, calificación de notable.

Licenciado en Educación Bilingüe, UCLA, 1997–2001.

Idiomas Castellano: leído, hablado, escrito y traducido (nivel alto). Italiano: leído y hablado (nivel medio).

Informática Microsoft Office, HTML

Experiencia profesional Profesora del programa Inglés Como Segundo Idioma, escuela de Boston. Septiembre de 2001-mayo de 2003.

Directora del programa Inglés Como Segundo Idioma, escuela de Boston. Junio de 2003-el día presente.

As you can see, the first section should cover datos person-ales (personal information). In the United States, it is inappropriate for the employer to ask about your age, let alone expect you to list it on your resume. In Spain and in some parts of Latin America, however, indicating the fecha de nacimiento (date of birth) — as well as lugar de nacimiento (place of birth) — is still appropriate.

The next section is formación or education. List all education, from your high school (el colegio) to your degrees. Next are idiomas (languages) and informática (computer skills). The last part of your resume should be a list of work experiences, starting with the earliest. In a more detailed resume, you can also include a description of each job.