Learning a foreign language is no longer about having a better travelling
experience. It pays to learn the local language of the country you are
visiting or doing business in. Learning a second language can also mean
making connections with a people’s culture, traditions and history.
Knowing how to speak a second language can also improve your
employment prospects and give you that vital edge when doing interviews.
Many jobs require second language
skills.
Many people think the learning English
is more than sufficient. However, it
should be known that only 5.6% of
people in the world speak English; the
rest speak other languages. Speaking English alone will not suffice in
today’s world with a greater demand for global communication and
understanding.
Learning a foreign language also provides an opportunity for an individual
to broaden their educational and career horizons. Many employers
struggle to find fluent second language speakers. There are many
educational and career opportunities that we can explore. It would not
only help us transcend cultural boundaries, but also help us understand
subjects and concepts associated with the language.
When learning a second language, it’s also beneficial to understand the
cultural values and structures of the people who speak this language in
their everyday lives. In addition to that, most literacy, music and other
artistic milestones are not written in English. To fully understand and
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appreciate a literacy work, it needs to be read and understood in its
original form.
Language becomes a window where we can see, understand and also put
into context the nature of a country’s culture. This is important, especially
if you are doing business with foreign clients. You need to understand
their culture, so you can build trust, cooperation, and compromise with
them.
Another good reason for you to start learning a foreign language is the
career opportunities for multilingual professionals. Here are some fields
where speaking another language could give you a head start:
✓ Social Services
➢ Social worker, criminology & law enforcement, social
counsellor, drug abuse counsellor, occupational health care,
income maintenance counsellor and more
✓ Business & Finance:
➢ Accountant, administration, economist and more
✓ Communications:
➢ Reporter, journalist, publisher, editor and more
✓ Education:
➢ Teaching at various levels and more
✓ Government:
➢ Translator, interpreter and more
Learning a foreign language can be a huge benefit when it comes to
looking for a career in this period of globalization. Many of these
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opportunities may not require any official qualifications in your chosen
language. However, your level of fluency in your chosen language will be
verified by any potential employer. In business transactions, we cannot
avoid the need for communicating in the language of our foreign business
partners.
Learning about foreign languages will help you promote your business in
other countries more effectively. If you want to build long, solid business
ties and relationships in other countries, then you need to be familiar with
their native language.