hello

Ok, folks...I'm sort of a newbie here so don't be hard on me...

I'm your junior fella,  bet you've seen me at uni.
I think I saw one of you guys the other day -- you were talking to some native Spaniards (?)...
I know some you spent a heck of a long time there -- how was that? Come clean =)

I'm a third-year student at our common department of 'Management of External Economic Activities' or whatchamacallit.
So, been around for a while - we sure have come across at uni.

The USA are great, believe you me.

Spanish is quite ubiquitous in the states but you hafta bear in mind it's sorta different from what you might expect in Spain.

What is your first language, guys?
I suppose it does matter to strike a proper balance between your foreign lanuages cuz you might end up spreading yourself too thin which is a sin in itself, you can't afford that, you know. To make matters worse, languages are not our speciality.

P.S. 'Breaking the ice even further', who are you? =)))

Of course, I meant your first foreign language.
As for the languages, I've been toiling away, keeping my nose to the grindstone long enough as I'm pretty much sure  that will pay off one day, stand me in good stead when the bloody  interviewer in front of me will be scrutinizing my CV or resume, for that matter.
I've never been complacent as it is always dragging you back in the pursuit of your goals.
Even so, language per se is not enough in our profession. That's why i've embarked on a highly intensive course in world economics. I've never been satisfied with what our lecturers ram into us as it's usually either out-of-date or simply not enough for anybody who strives to become a competent and self-sufficient economist.
I wonder what your mysterious experience is. Would be great if you let us in on that as it might turn out to be a real eye-opener for me, at least.

The skill itself is very helpful indeed, but you can't possibly get by with 'a better understanding or things', so we're forced to master our skills to the highest possible level in order to stand out on the background of cut-throat competition, sheer nepotism, 'pull', that is.
All in all, i'd agree that it's way better to have a sound judgement and analytical mind in lieu of absolutely irrelevant and ponderous burden of abstract theoretical knowledge, but we can't do much -- just grin and bear it, the remnants of our educational system foist their own values and imperatives. Unfortunately, old habits die hard.