why business people should learn a foreign language

Business people that speak a second language can expect between

. Personnel of the U.S. military to

$1,000 more per month if they are multilingual speakers.

HIGHER

Photo by Evan Jackson, CC

There are 1.85 million Americans graduating in 2015, only 18% of them speak

a second language other than English.

Being proficient in a foreign language gives you a

Photo by Senado Federal, CC

Four out of five jobs created in the US are now created as a

result of foreign trade

A from the University of Edinburg shows that fluency in other

language improves cognitive performance and intelligence skills even in

adulthood.

Speaking a foreign language makes you more employable according to the

, particularly in the IT,

business, law and translation industry.

Monolingual speakers of any variety of English - American or British -

will experience increasing difficulty in employment and political life

(Graddol, cited in Schmidt, 2004)

photo by Kate Hiscock - CC

Mandarin is the most important language for American business people to

learn . Spoken by 845 million people, Mandarin is the top language

worldwide for business other than English, according to

which makes it an extremely valuable asset in today's global

economy.

The effects of globalization will increase the demand for skilled linguistics in an

increasing range of languages. (Connel, 2002:3)

Language learning improves interpersonal skills and communication skills, enhances

the ability to work creatively as part of a team; increases initiative, adaptability and

flexibility; (QAA, 2002: 7)

I’m not a language person…

Everybody is a language person, given the right tools! The fastest way to learn a

language is through studying subjects you need to learn about and are interested in.