Everyone wants an improvement in their career, and no one likes being stagnant. There are so many ideas that will make you stand out in your career and even at your workplace amongst which is learning a foreign language.
According to language experts, learning a foreign language provides personal fulfillment and financial reward. Learning a foreign language gives you an edge over your monolingual counterparts.
Your proficiency in a foreign language is a vital skill which you definitely need in the interconnected and interdependent world we live in today, as it’ll allow you to interact with the world in a meaningful way.
Speaking a foreign language will make your organization value you more.
Here are some solid reasons why learning a Foreign Language is important to your career
1. Gives you an edge at interviews
Your ability to speak a foreign language gives you an edge and gets you the job quicker than your monolingual counterparts during interviews.
You definitely need a profile that will place you higher than your counterparts since the market is now very competitive. There are so many opportunities for multilingual/ bilingual candidates at interviews.
2. Career Growth opportunities
Your knowledge of a foreign language enhances your career. You are positioned for a higher rank in an organization if you have the ability to know about other cultures and speak two or three different languages apart from yours.
Nowadays, most companies need multilingual/bilingual employees who can help them expand their businesses in other countries. This gives your career an optimum boost as you will be able to learn new things during the process of representing your organization abroad.
3. Commands a higher salary
Multilingual and bilingual employees come with a higher price tag since they are highly sought after but fewer in number. Most companies are desperate for multilingual/bilingual employees, and anyone employed by them will be well paid, unlike their monolingual counterparts.
This is simply because their ability to understand other foreign languages put them a step ahead of others, making them a valued employee which no organization would want loose.
4. Relationship building
People get comfortable if spoken to in their own language. Knowing a second or third language different from yours gives you the opportunity to build relationships and make new friends with people from other cultures.
It is essential to know that relationship building is necessary for any business and career growth. To elevate your professional relationship with a client, you should be able to understand his/her language as it brings better business results and productivity in an organization.
5. Appeal to Global companies
Your fluency in a foreign language will make you a global employee. This is because most companies who are still trying to widen their horizon are in dying need of candidates who can blend with other cultures and bridge the communication gap between them and their clients.
6. Enhanced networking skill
Most times, language poses a barrier to communication, thereby preventing us from interacting with some people. Improving your communication skill is vital for growth in today’s highly competitive world.
The more language you know, the bigger your network. Learning a new language allows you to speak to a lot of people whom you had no pretext communicating with.
You being multilingual gives you the chance to see the world from different perspectives, get acquainted with other cultures and respect people’s opinion.
7. Deepens your connection to other cultures
Language is the key connection to other cultures. We tend to appreciate the religion, traditions, history and language of other people more if we are able to communicate in their language.
Learning a foreign language gives you more understanding and makes you more empathic towards others.
8. Makes you knowledgeable
Your ability to understand other languages makes you more knowledgeable and open to different cultures. It gives you the opportunity to accept exciting and challenging job offers that others won’t dare take.
9. Sharpened memory
Regular exercise helps to keep the brain sharp and active. By learning a new language, you are performing an exercise. It takes someone with a sharpened brain to learn a new language and understand quickly, and the process will also help boost your memory more.
You need to remember the rules, grammar and vocabularies associated with a new language for you to be proficient in it and all this requires a high exertion of the brain for you to recall what you have learnt.
As surprising as it may sound, you become more mindful of the grammatical rules of your own language once you start learning a different language. You become proficient in your own tongue and start seeing the reason why both languages you know are different.
10. Connect
Communication helps us connect with others. It is highly incredible how we relate with people once we speak and understand their language. This is one of the advantages of being multilingual/ bilingual.
11. Ability to make good decisions
People who are multilingual/ bilingual have the ability to take better decisions giving them the precedence for managerial positions compared to those with knowledge of just one language.
Decision making is a vital aspect of organizational duties and multilingual employees have the ability to make good decisions with ease because they understand other people’s views and ideas more.
12. Multitasking ability
Being multilingual/ bilingual gives you the benefit of being able to multitask, which is a very challenging procedure for the brain. Having good linguistic skills gives you the ability to handle multiple tasks proficiently, thus enhancing your job prospects.
13. Feed your brain
By learning a foreign language, you are feeding your brain, thereby making you keener and keeping your mind alert at all times. This helps you in multitasking, problem-solving, better listening, creativity, flexibility and critical thinking. You go through a mental exertion when you learn a new language making you mentally alert at all times.
