How important is the ability to speak a foreign language?
Our major recent projects have been in countries such as Armenia, Russia, Ukraine, Poland, and Bulgaria. We have not been able to find many people at cooperating universities who have both the necessary experience and fluency in languages spoken in these countries. Therefore, most of the work is done using full-time translators. Knowledge of a foreign language such as French or Spanish can be a strong advantage (and sometimes a requirement) for assignments in Africa and Latin America.
