The benefits of learning a language for your mental health, your cognitive abilities and your social skills are all very well known, but just how crucial is having even just one foreign language for your business? The short answer: a great deal.
Did you know that not investing in language training for your employees can negatively impact your business revenue?
In 2017, the UK was losing out on £4.8bn every year due to a lack of language skills.
These figures imply that investing in a language for your business would turn out to be a good choice in terms of financial return and opportunities.
However, the disinterest and lack of linguistic knowledge raises concerns as to how the UK can fit in a multilingual world, particularly now that the effect Brexit is imminent.
Most UK exporters rely on their mother tongue, but in fact many trade partners have a low level of English. This raises the question of trade post-Brexit. After all, figures suggest that the UK's capacity to boost business competitiveness on an international level. Now, more than ever, language skills are paramount to survival in a globalised context.
According to Eurobarometer, only 32 percent of Britons aged 15-30 can read and write in more than one language. The EU average is 80 percent. For any business, an employee who knows another language is an asset to the organisation, and it shows dedication and respect towards the business partners by not taking for granted their knowledge of English. The benefits for a business would be tremendous in terms of employability skills, productivity of personnel, boost of trade and business links.
So which languages should you invest in for your business and for your personal or career development?
German, French and Spanish lead the way in a European context, followed by Italian and Portuguese.
In a wider international context Arabic, Chinese, Russian, Turkish and Japanese are your best choices.
To improve the perspectives of language learning in the UK, lots of work needs to be done in terms of awareness and language education from early years throughout the different school stages. This is vital in order to recognise the importance of languages outside the education system and in the community.
The Scottish Government has taken steps to improve language skills from an early age, by combining 2 languages in schools in addition to English as a mother tongue. This is a decisive step forward to open up prospects for the future of the country, but it doesn’t and shouldn’t stop there.
In conclusion, the UK is faced with a huge long-term challenge with regards to Brexit and its connection to language learning, but this also represents an opportunity to boost collaboration across different sectors and policy areas to implement a national strategy to preserve and enhance the UK’s chances in an international context.
“You live a new life for every new language you speak. If you know only one language, you live only once”
Czech proverb