Bilingual skills shine

This story shows how valuable it is to be fluent in 2 languages. Most second generation immigrants lose their parents' language and many regret it. DP

poughkeepsiejournal.com: Susan Mattingly grew up speaking and writing in English and Spanish because her Cuban-born mother wanted to keep the family's Latino heritage alive.

Now at 40, Mattingly finds her fluency in a second language in demand as a telephone agent for Arise Virtual Solutions, a call center that provides customer service for about 40 companies across the country.

Working from her Greenville, S.C., home, Mattingly fields calls from Puerto Rico, Hawaii and abroad for clients of an insurance company.

"I would say daily to weekly I use my (Spanish language) skills," Mattingly said. "It seems a great gift that I speak Spanish."

Mary Bartlett, talent manager for Arise, said about a third of the independent contractors who work for the company are bilingual, many of them immigrants or first-generation Americans who grew up speaking the language of their parents' homelands.

"By far the biggest demand we have is for Spanish. I don't see this trend slowing down," Bartlett said. "They want someone who can really connect with the customer."

Mattingly is among an estimated 11 percent of Americans who speak English and a second language fluently, according to the Census Bureau.
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