Using Languages to Advance Your Career - Why Learn Spanish?
Image via WikipediaWith communications becoming so much easier, having business partners or customers all over the world is an option for many businesses. So if you want to forge an international career for yourself, learning a second language to give you more options in your career is a good move, but why would you choose Spanish?
If you r present or potential future employers have contacts in Spain or Latin America, Spanish is the obvious choice for you.
But even if you are undecided about the future, Spanish is an excellent option. To start with, Spanish it’s a world language - in fact it’s the third most commonly spoken languages, with Chinese being the most common and English coming second. In addition, Spanish plays an important role in world business, currently ranking fourth but some sources are predicting that by the year 2030 it will be in second place, after Chinese.
So, if you are an English speaker and want to stay ahead of the game in the business world, learning either Chinese or Spanish would make a great deal of sense. So why would you choose to learn Spanish rather than Chinese?
Probably the number one reason for English-speakers is that Spanish is much, much easier than Chinese! The writing system is more or less the same, unlike Chinese! A very high number of words are almost the same in both English and Spanish and English grammar and word order are similar.
You might question the need to learn Spanish, since so many native speakers are more or less fluent in English, but there is a very good case for learning their language if you plan to work with them.
See if you can remember a time, perhaps on holiday, when you were with several people who were speaking a language other than English – one you don’t know at all or perhaps can only understand a few words of. What was the experience like? You were probably pretty uncomfortable and didn’t have a clue what was happening. Even if someone was kind enough to interpret for you, you can be sure they didn’t translate every single word and there is a good chance that their English wasn’t flawless.
So you just got a half-baked version of events. That probably isn’t a problem on holiday, but if you are doing a business deal, it’s a very different story. So if you want a career that involves negotiations with Spanish-speaking countries you have to be sure that you can not only speak the language, but understand it as well.
Listening is a crucial skill and one that most students of Spanish overlook. But you can develop your listening comprehension fast if you follow an online audio course like Rocket Spanish.
If you want to advance your career with a new language, think seriously about learning Spanish.
Learn more about Rocket Spanish here and pick up my free introductory Spanish course.
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