The obvious answer here, for any citizen, globally, who was not born in an English speaking country is, of course “English”. This language has long been established as the official international language, thus making it imperative for almost everyone on the planet to be able to utter some basic English phrases, if they desire to be understood from any other person not belonging in his nationality. It is actually striking that, according to the latest studies, more than 2 billion people can speak English all over the world and that the non-native speakers of English outnumber the native-ones by a ratio of 3/1.
However, apart from learning English, what are the special criteria that a person should take into consideration before choosing which (other) foreign language to learn?
- Career Prospects
No matter how specific and localized your field of expertise might be considered, this is only relevant in the 21st century. Any profession is challenged and redefined in a global scale since competition has no borders anymore. From networking in the professional section to academic requirements, extending to traveling, all kinds of professionals around the world implement different languages in order to upgrade their work.
There are more than 6,000 languages in the world and a person should choose wisely the one that would be essential for the improving of the work field that they find themselves in. Learning an extra foreign language will not only set a candidate apart from all others, as it will have significantly boosted their resume but it will also have a great impact on future earnings.
Here are some vital questions to ask yourself before deciding:
▪ Where do you see your field of work heading to? Which countries are staring in the production and development of it? Which nationalities are the greatest industries involved in it?
▪ What is your core target audience?
▪ What is your personal career goal in 10 years from now? What would you like to have achieved? Which position would you ideally like to have conquered?
- Personal Goals
In addition to the professional reasons you might have for learning another language, sometimes there are considerable personal ones, as well.
On the one hand, it is really common for people to start learning a foreign language because one of their parents or greater ancestors originate from another country. Therefore, by learning this specific language, a person can more easily keep up and maintain the customs and traditions of that country, have a close contact with what’s happening there by watching the local news and reinforcing his overall relationship with the native people.
No one, in this section, could deny the power of love on our decision making. Numerous people around the world have decided to immigrate because of a loved person and if that is not the case, they have decided to learn the other person’s language as a way to minimize the cultural and communicational gap.
- Travel
I could never stress enough that one of this life’s greatest blessings is to be able to travel around the world. By traveling abroad, you leave your comfort zone behind and you are bravely stepping into a new adventure. You open your eyes to how differently, people from each corner of this amazing world experience reality. You respect and get amazed by the differences by finally, you get humbled by the fact that all people, everywhere are the same in core.
Therefore, if you enjoy travelling, before deciding which language to learn, a good idea would be to think which countries would you like to visit!
Before making your decision, these are 10 most influential languages in the 21st century:
- English- The Language of Globalization
- Mandarin Chinese- The language that is dying to spend its money
- Spanish- The fastest growing language into the American Market
- German- The Language of the European Industry Strength
- Portuguese- The Most Accelerating Language Taught
- Arabic- The Internet’s Fastest Growing Language
- French- The Official Language of Diplomacy
- Japanese- The Language of the Future Technology
- Russian- The Language of Trade
- Hindi- The Language of Outsourcing