Some people learn a language exclusively for practical reasons for such. “I only learned French because of my work and to communicate with residents in the country where I live,” explains Angel, a Bulgarian IT expert who lives in Belgium. Still others have several good reasons to learn a language. ,”It has been useful for my work to learn French,” says Simon, a British entrepreneur.
One of the best ways to improve your language is to go to the country to learn in a language school while experiencing the most exciting cities in the world, including French schools in Paris and English schools in New York.
When learning foreign languages most get more job opportunities and can choose between several different countries. A wide competence profile can provide better career opportunities and makes it easier to become the preferred candidate for a new job. Stanislav, a Czech consultant knows that his German skills have opened numerous career opportunities for him and made it easier for him working with the Austrian and German banking sector. He has seen how the attitudes to certain languages have changed because of the political changes in the former Czechoslovakia. Russian was formerly a compulsory foreign language but was rejected for political reasons for such. Now there are again demand for people who speaks, but this time it is market powers that are at play.
Competitive Advantage Multilingual staff can enhance competitive swimming in the small and large companies. Similarly, failure to have strong language skills can be expensive. In a recent EU Survey among small and medium enterprises, 11% of businesses reported to have lost contracts because they did not have sufficient linguistic skills. An Italian manufacturer of chemicals and abrasives for the automotive industry, which currently are moving into new foreign markets, have had trouble to find employees with the necessary linguistic skills. The company has invited Italian universities to put greater focus pa language courses. In Poland the situation is the same. Businesses have talked with frustrated people among local chambers of commerce, which have helped the small businesses. More often than they want to admit, the work does not produce results, because firms did not have employees with foreign language skills.Many employers and employees are aware of the multilingual reality. For example, many positions in Belgium require that the applicants least master the country’s two official languages and another European main language. In fact, so many as three quarters of the major European enterprises havea detailed policy on language learning and collaborate with local universities to attract students from abroad and to strengthen local student mobility. Some universities in Lithuania offers studies in English, French, Russian and German. In Belgium, Rumania, the Czech Republic it is possible to combine some university master degrees in science, history or geography with a bachelor’s degree in a foreign language, and in some accrue as a dual master’s degree.