While there are numerous reasons for this, one cannot deny that English’s global power plays a significant role. But are organizations missing a trick by relying on non-native English speakers to learn English rather than a more collaborative program?
Since World War II, English has been recognized as the de facto lingua franca. Politics, diplomacy, business, entertainment, and social media have all succumbed to the English language’s power. Non-native English speakers frequently use English to communicate with one another, making it a powerful tool.
Having said that, it is just one tool in a large toolbox of languages. Only 7% of non-native English speakers in global corporations believe they can communicate effectively at work, according to statistics. If this is the case, there is a compelling business case for organizations to increase their investment in corporate language training programs that truly transform the working lives of their employees.
The Key Benefits Of Investing In Language Training
This type of linguistic investment is not only beneficial to an organization; it also has significant personal and professional benefits for the people who work there.
1. The Benefits Of Culture
Understanding a culture entails knowledge of a language. Insensitivity or cultural faux pas can have a significant impact on your company’s reputation and internal management, especially because attitudes toward business, how it is run, and views on management styles differ greatly across cultures.
There is a strong link between language training and intercultural skills.
They improve our adaptability to living in a diverse society, make us more globally minded, and help us resolve cross-cultural conflicts.
Those advantages are especially important in the business world, where organizations must become more globally focused as they work in different markets and face cross-cultural barriers.
If a company wants to understand its local customers, it must first understand their cultural identity, and then they must understand your company.
2. Individual Advantages
Dialect training in Sydney can provide a significant competitive advantage in today’s job market as well as make it easier to spend time living, working, and studying in different parts of the world. This holds even for native English speakers, even though English is widely used as a lingua franca around the world.
3. Advantages Of Networking
Learning a foreign language expands one’s personal and professional network significantly. Why? Because people are more likely to trust and interact with you if you speak their language.
Knowing how to speak the ‘local language’ can help to alleviate any initial stranger barrier’ and apprehension. It can make you seem more like one of their own, earning you more trust.
Understanding a language also implies an understanding of its cultural norms and etiquette traditions.
It exposes you to a large group of professionals and individuals who speak the same language as you, significantly expanding your network of useful contacts.
4. Make A Global World Available To You
Spend a day speaking and even thinking in the language of another person and the possibilities for understanding their cultural identity, attitudes, opinions, thought process, and attitude toward others are limitless.
When people learn another language, they inadvertently learn a new perspective on the world. In an increasingly global world, developing an organizational-wide language learning strategy is critical for breaking down communication barriers and creating truly collaborative organizations. The business advantages of learning a foreign language are matched by the personal growth and development that every member of your multilingual team will enjoy and benefit from.