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It’s easy to decide to learn a foreign language, but the real
challenge is to decide which language to learn. If you have a solid
reason for learning a certain language, you don’t need more; however,
many adults want to learn a new language to develop their expertise, but
have no idea how to pick the right language, especially when they are
looking to supplement their income.
As the unemployment rate in US
is still pretty high, millions of people are trying to make themselves
more valuable for employers. Luckily, learning a foreign language is one
of the ways to gain extra value as an employee, a fact which was proven by surveys among employers. Moreover, being bilingual can bring you higher income.
More languages, more money
Recruitment specialists state that bilingual workers earn up to 15% more money,
which is a significant amount. The Economist made a top 3 most
profitable languages, which show bonuses vary in amount on the language
you are fluent in. German is the leader of the top, with almost 4%
bonuses.
Many companies are open to hiring foreign workers and
this trend is spreading on all domains. Translators’ opportunities are
expected to double until 2022, for example, while US military workers can earn up to $1,000 more each month, if they are bilingual.
After
you learn a new language you can easily change your job field, as a
whole new range of opportunities are opening in front of you, based on
this new language.
Which are the most profitable languages to learn
All foreign languages are useful: even if you get to learn Italian in Rome,
just for pleasure, or if you struggle to learn German to increase your
revenue. However, there are some languages which are considered to be
“more profitable” than others. In this article, I rated different
languages by the number of speakers in the world, the number of
countries where it is spoken and their relevance for the international
economy.
I have to note couple of things about this criteria:
Chinese, Arabic and Hindi are the top 3 most spoken languages across the
world, BUT you need to consider the number of people in each country
when you decide how useful are these languages. For example, China is
the most populated country, with 1,300 billiard of people, which made
around 20% of the world population.
For the second criteria, you can check the Census official data to see the business partners of US.
Now that you know how I made this list, let’s talk business!
The top 5 most profitable languages to learn (in no particular order)
French
Despite
the misconception, French is spoken by over 2 million people across the
world, in 29 countries, which makes it highly useful. First, students
who know French are eligible for scholarships, which can save their
parents a lot of money. Second, Canada, where French is one of the main
languages spoken, is the top trading partner of US. Moreover, French is
the official language of NATO, the Olympics, Red Cross and United
Nations as well as other organizations. This opens your job
opportunities to jobs in consultancy, administration, pharmaceuticals
and telecommunications, to name a few.
In US, mastering French is going to add to your value as an employee, because few Americans know it.
Mandarin
China
is the new dominating power in economy and it’s influence is growing,
which means learning a Mandarin language opens up your professional
perspective. China is one of the biggest trading partners of US and the
demand for executives in multinational companies is rising. Knowing this
hard to learn language is hard, but it will provide you with
opportunities in diplomatic sector and military sector, apart from
commerce and banking sectors.
German
Germany is a powerful
European country, which means its economical value is rising, along
with its international economic power. According to some financial magazines,
German is the language which returns the biggest profit. The only
drawback is the fact German is not the easiest language to learn, but
the increase in monthly earnings is a strong motivation.
Arab
There
is no denial the Arab world is the wealthiest. On top of this, it
happens to be the biggest oil exporter. The economy of the Middle East
has nowhere to go than up, which is great news for people who are fluent
in an Arabic language. The job market is in high demand of employees,
but they receive a low supply. This happens because Arab is not easy to
learn, as Mandarin, but also due to the high political instability in
the area.
Italian
Our latest entry is not the latter, but it’s the easier to learn: you can even pick up Italian during a visit in Rome!
British Council included Italian in the top 10 most important languages
for UK, for the next 20 years, which means it comes with a lot of
opportunities. Italian is a Romance language, just like Portuguese and
Spanish, so it can be a good option for those who already know Spanish,
for example. Or, you can first learn Italian to make it easier to learn
Portuguese.
Either way, it will open a lot of job opportunities to
you, as Italy is a popular destination, with a strong tourism sector;
Milan is the fashion capital and great chefs come in this country to
perfect their cooking skills. The business sector is also in demand of
Italian speaking professionals.
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