Thanks to globalization, the world has become a smaller place. With the advancement in means of communication and transportation, people today have transcended all international boundaries and come together for a common goal, i.e., to trade with one another. This business is done at all levels - personal, organizational, as well as between countries. When there is so much of intermingling of people from different cultures, who have different lifestyles, values, etc., it becomes necessary that they understand each other well. This is where the importance of learning a foreign language lies. Given below is a list of some of the most beneficial ones.
Best Foreign Language to Learn for Business
Let's start straight away with the list of the best languages, before moving onto learn the importance of foreign languages.
- Chinese
- Portuguese
- Spanish
- Korean
- Arabic
- French
- Russian
- German
- Tagalog
- Vietnamese
- Italian
- Polish
- Japanese
Chinese is a good language to learn, as many jobs today are outsourced to China. Also, it is generally believed that in the coming years, China will overtake the United States as the world leader, and thus, will have a greater influence in the politics of the world. This makes Chinese one of the best languages for international relations.
Spanish is the second most spoken language after English, in America. There are many job opportunities in America, which specifically require people to be proficient in English as well as Spanish. French and German have been chosen, as they are widely spoken in Europe, while Portuguese is the language of Brazil, which is a business leader in South America.
Tagalog (the language of the Philippines), Vietnamese, and Korean are one among the best languages to learn, as the population of immigrants who speak these Asian languages is rising steadily in the United States. So, it might happen that in future, the companies, where these Asian immigrants work, might hire people who are proficient in them. Similarly, Polish, Russian, and Italian are good languages, looking at the large population in the United States who speak these languages.
Benefits
Learning a foreign language has multiple benefits. A person is able to understand the culture, values, and moods of the people who speak that language. This makes one develop cultural sensitivities, and thus, a person becomes more accepting to the ways of life that are different from his. One is able to study the art and literature of that culture, which contributes to a person's creative and intellectual development. And lastly, researches have shown that learning languages adds to a person's cognitive as well as interpretive skills.
In business, knowing different languages gives a person an edge over his contemporaries, as he is able to communicate with people of other countries much more effectively than his peers who only know English. Forging business ties with people from diverse backgrounds, finding employment, working in teams with people who speak different languages, taking and giving suggestions, learning new ways of doing things, and traveling to other countries becomes easier, if one learns a foreign language.
