Best Languages to Learn

Thanks to globalization, the world has become a smaller place. With advancement in means of communication and transportation, people today have transcended all national boundaries and come together for a common goal, i.e. to do business with one another. This business is done at all levels - personal, organizational, as well as between countries. When there is so much of intermingling of people from different cultures, who have different lifestyles, values, etc., it becomes necessary that they understand each other well, only then would they be able to work together as a team. This is where the importance of learning a foreign language lies. So, all those professionals who want to know, "what are the best languages to learn", given below is a list of some of the most beneficial ones.

Best Languages to Learn for Business

Let's start straight away with the list of the best languages to know, before moving onto learn the importance of the foreign language study.

    * Chinese
    * Portuguese
    * Spanish
    * Korean
    * Arabic
    * French
    * Russian
    * German
    * Tagalog
    * Vietnamese
    * Italian
    * Polish
    * Japanese

The best languages to learn in the above list have been selected for various reasons. Chinese is a good language to learn as many jobs today are outsourced to China. Also, it is generally believed that in the coming years China will overtake United States as the world leader and thus, will have a greater influence in the politics of the world. This makes Chinese, one of the best languages to learn for international relations.

Spanish is another of the best language to learn, as in America, it is the second most spoken language after English. There are many job opportunities in America, which specifically require people to be proficient in English as well as Spanish. You may read further on reasons to learn a foreign language. Other languages such as French and German, have been chosen as they are the most widely spoken languages in Europe, while Portuguese is the language of Brazil, which is a business leader in South America.

Tagalog (the language of the Philippines), Vietnamese and Korean are one among the best language to learn as the population of immigrants who speak these Asian languages is rising steadily in the United States, so it might happen that in future the companies, where these Asian immigrants work, might hire people who are proficient in these languages. Similarly, Polish, Russian and Italian are good languages to learn looking at the large populations in United States who speak these languages.

Benefits of Learning a Foreign Language

Learning a foreign language has many benefits. While learning a foreign language, a person is able to understand the culture, values and moods of the people who speak that language. This makes one develop cultural sensitivities and thus, a person becomes more accepting to ways of life that are different from his. You may further read on intercultural communication. Another benefit of learning a foreign language is that one is able to study the art and literature produced in that language, which contributes to a person's creative and intellectual development. And lastly, researches have shown that learning languages adds to a person's cognitive as well as interpretive skills.

This was, in short, about the best languages to learn and their advantages. In business, knowing different languages gives a person an edge over his contemporaries as he is able to communicate with people of other countries much more effectively than his peers who only know English language. Forging business ties with people from diverse backgrounds, finding employment, working in teams with people who speak different languages, taking and giving suggestions, learning new ways of doing things, traveling to other countries becomes easier, if one learns a foreign language.