Rising trends in foreign languages
Learning languages is the answer to stepping up your career graph and standing out globally
There is a change happening in the field of foreign languages. The global economy is shifting from the English speaking world and use of diverse foreign languages on the Internet has changed in the last few years for global communication and for commercial purposes. Social media giants such as Facebook, Twitter and Google are allowing users to correspond through local languages. In Latin America, the use of Spanish and Portuguese is rising, and in South Asia, Hindi and Urdu is gaining popularity. As economies around the world become increasingly international, demand for
languages continues to grow. The significance of foreign language skills for graduates cannot be undervalued.
FEEDING THE DEMAND
It’s estimated that more than 7,000 languages are spoken around the world. According to a report by UNESCO, the world’s most broadly spoken languages by number of native speakers and as a second language are English, Spanish, Mandarin Chinese, Hindi, Arabic, Bengali, Russian, Portuguese, German, Japanese and French. Businesses in a number of sectors and industries actively seek employees with multiple language skills. Need for those who can speak German and French for sales and trading roles is most sought after. The sales and trading sector accounts for one-third of all available vacancies and this is followed by finance, IT (information technology), administrative and project management positions.
MULTIPLE ROLES
Knowledge of foreign languages, especially with the growth of economic associations across the world, is an important tool globally for developing businesses, exploring new markets and servicing importers. Exporters too have shaped a vast demand for interpreters who are serving to bridge language barriers. This serves as an instrument to lessen the intercultural gaps. The role and responsibility of interpreters has become equally important and they are being hired in large numbers for their skills as economies nowadays work with foreign markets and their know how helps in facilitating deals and businesses. In fact, one’s ability to speak multiple languages other than English is a precious tool and skill for new age employers.
PULSE ON EMPLOYMENT
Trends and feedback from several recruitment agencies indicate that employers are looking for people with linguistic and advanced foreign language skills. Their clients seek workers who are well-versed
in languages but not necessarily expert linguists such as translators or interpreters. This is a positive message for graduate linguists.
GLOBAL TRENDS
Significantly, learning languages encourages mobility which itself is highly valued by employers. Global experience is connected with a strong command of a particular language and increased elasticity. Employers overwhelmingly reported that when applying for a job, a graduate with knowledge of one or more foreign languages would have an edge over another graduate with no language skills.
WHY LEARN ANOTHER LANGUAGE
The benefits of a bilingual or multilingual education are well recognised. It aids cross cultural understanding and global awareness. enhances academic progress in other subjects narrows accomplishment gaps, benefits higher order and encourages abstract and creative thinking, enriches cognitive skills and emotional development, increases the student’s sense of attainment, helps students score higher on identical tests, improves chances of getting admitted in the college of choice and offers better career opportunities.