Learning a second language has a lot of benefits, especially if you are currently a young person looking to progress in your career. Not only will it give you a deeper understanding of another culture, but it will also help to develop your thinking skills – something which is of vital importance in the fast paced world of today. No matter what line of work you are in, or want to enter into, keep reading for a list of career benefits related to learning a second language.
Deeper Understanding of Another Culture
We briefly mentioned this benefit above, but it really shouldn’t be underestimated when it comes to business. In addition to learning all of the verbs and tenses, learning a second language will require you to immerse yourself in the culture of that language. For example, let’s say you’re learning French. Whilst learning the language, you’ll be required to read French texts, speak to other French speaking people, and learn about its traditions. You may even decide to visit the country to immerse yourself in it fully. When meeting with foreign business clients, you will be one step ahead of your competitors as you’ll know how to properly welcome them and interact with them politely.
Improves Academic Performance
If you are still at school or university, you’ll find that learning a second language helps to improve your overall academic performance. Studies have shown that students who speak a second language tend to do better on standardised tests. This is likely because of the problem solving and creative thinking skills that are required in order to speak fluently. These carry over to other subjects (and roles in business) thus helping a student perform better.
Improves Thinking Skills
Because a foreign language student is hearing a lot of words that don’t immediately make sense, it takes some expert thinking skills to put these words together into sentences that can be understood. And, the more a student learns, the more their thinking skills continue to develop. When it comes to entering into a career, people who can speak more than one language are often preferred due to their ability to think outside the box and find answers to problems that others may not have thought of. Many employers actively seek out multilingual employees for this reason.
Leads to Increased Travel Opportunities
With the internet making conducting business abroad easier than ever, more businesses than ever are selling their products and services abroad. Whilst this is definitely a good thing, a lot of businesses now require staff who speak more than one language as well as are able to cooperate with professional translation agencies order to providetechnical translation services and also to meet and greet foreign associates. Speaking a second language can lead to not only more employment prospects, but also more opportunities to travel. You may even find that you are considered for promotion at a much younger age than people who only speak the one language.
The ability to speak a second language is a valuable skill to add onto your CV, no matter what line of work you want to enter into. The time it takes to learn a new language will be more than worth it.