This week in the Financial Times, Andrew Hill talks to Professor Antonella Sorace about the importance of languages in business.
Bilingualism Matters recently partnered the Financial Times in setting up a roundtable discussion on this topic. Many companies value the practical language skills of multilingual employees – need someone to respond to a customer complaint in German? Check! Need to show round a group of visiting delegates from China? Check! What many business leaders are less aware of, however, is the cognitive benefits of speaking more than one language.
For example, research by Professor Sorace, amongst others, suggests that people who can communicate in more than one language are better at paying attention to a particular task, are more adaptable and better able to take on board the perspectives of other people.
The key here is that bilingualism is about communication, rather than perfect fluency. You don’t have to have spoken a language from birth in order for it to be a valuable business asset. Simply the fact that you are able to use a second language, no matter when you learnt it, will bring you huge advantages in the business world.
You can read the full article on the Financial times website Financial Times: The Multilingual Dividend
