Where to Use Your Foreign Language Skills in Business

Where to Use Your Foreign Language Skills in Business

The business world is constantly developing and evolving. Studying and becoming proficient in a foreign language creates many opportunities in the business world, especially on an international level. Foreign languages play a crucial role in business communication. Any foreign language is applicable in business, depending on the business nature and market involved, but some of the most common and useful tend to be Spanish, English, Mandarin, and Portuguese. Various organizations value foreign language skills as it gives them a competitive advantage over others in the market. Knowing when and where to use these skills can be important in moving up, better communication, and in your own personal development.

Where to Use Your Foreign Language Skills in Business

In Business Administration

Business administration requires foreign language skills solely for communication purposes. Language plays a crucial role both internally and externally in the company. It enables information to be shared among employees, customers, and employers. Use of foreign language internally in the company requires interaction among the employees and their employers. This promotes understanding, builds relationships, encourages cooperation, and maintains the corporation’s image. In external business communication, foreign language is used as a means of marketing and making sales. Foreign language can also be used to communicate the products and services to the consumers to persuade them to purchase. Using language plays a significant role in administration, enabling businesses to acquire better opportunities.

 

To Build Customer Satisfaction

With the help of the internet, most businesses today have expanded globally, or at least across the country. The success of a company is dependent on the quality of information it acquires regarding its customers, the market, and its competitors. Customer satisfaction is dependent on the gains by the customers from the business after an interaction. Foreign language enables customers of different places to feel comfortable in buying products and services.

 

Legal and Administrative Roles

Global enterprises such as international law firms or global investment banks require foreign language skills as they operate across different continents. A good understanding of a foreign language is an added advantage as it increases chances of performance in such roles.

 

Business Services

Foreign language is useful in dealing with international clients and audiences. Direct marketing, advertising, public relation agencies, sales, among others require the need of multilingual translators to communicate with their international clients, thereby conducting negotiations efficiently. Understanding the customer’s and foreign employee’s culture is important in assisting companies to manage conflicts that result from cultural differences or barriers. Translators, apps, and translation services, can also be a useful feature to use in these situations, making business move smoothly and unhindered by a language barrier.

 

Cultural Consultancy

This type of role combines interpretation, translation, and cultural awareness. Consultants, in their line of work, have to incorporate these features along with foreign language skills to deliver training in cultural awareness. For their business success, they must be capable of overcoming language and cultural barriers as well as be able to communicate business ideas and concepts clearly and concisely.

 

Academic, Media and Public

In the international offices of universities, application of foreign language skills is crucial in assisting international students with orientation or queries. Librarians and information managers should also be conversant with the skill as their profession demands. Students can also learn foreign languages online or get assistance from tutors. Students working toward a human resource degree should acquire foreign language skills that will assist them in their profession if employed by an international organization.

For easier communication with industries and experts in other parts of the world, some of the media publications need their journalists to have proficient knowledge of foreign languages. This makes retrieval of information and news faster.

In public sectors such as museums, the workers are required to have foreign language skills. Museum curators and employees use foreign languages for effective communication, and to engage with foreign tourists. Renowned tourist destinations employ various multilingual forms to communicate, provide services and run their operations.

 

Travel and Hospitality

The travel, tourism, and hospitality industry is global and highly competitive. Areas covered include food services, adventure tourism, and hotel services. Foreign language enables communication between natives and foreign travelers, which enables customer satisfaction.

 

Foreign language plays a beneficial role in helping understand negotiations, conversations, and communications between practitioners, and also foreign customers. Various aspects of running businesses require the use of foreign languages, which ensures they have a competitive advantage.

How Learning a Second Language Can Help You Land a Nursing Job Faster

How Learning a Second Language Can Help You Land a Nursing Job Faster

Learning a second language may seem like something that you do just for fun, or it might seem like a hassle that isn’t worth the time. But a second language can actually have some huge benefits to your nursing career.

Being bilingual gets a foot in the door

People get sick regardless of the language they speak, and they still need help. Communication in health care is absolutely key, and if you have the skills to speak to someone in another language, that can give you an edge over your competition when you’re looking for employment. Particularly if all other things are equal, your second language could be the key that gets you the job.

Cultural understanding informs care

When you learn a second language, you also begin to understand more about the culture. You want to be able to treat all of your patients with dignity and respect, and you also want to be able to educate them about their health. By understanding more about their culture, you’ll better understand things like why they might have delayed seeking treatment, whether or not they’ll be likely to follow your instructions, and even how best to approach them with information so that they’re more likely to listen and do as you ask.

Foreign language expands your options

You’ve heard of areas of New York, for example, like Chinatown or Little Italy — pockets of the city where a large amount of people from a particular culture reside. Pockets like this exist in many towns and cities across the country. If you only speak one language, jobs within those pockets are crossed off your list before you even start looking. On the other hand, if you speak the language, you’ve just opened up a list of new opportunities for yourself.

Alternatively, perhaps you apply at a hospital or doctor’s office that renders assistance in foreign countries after disasters. Speaking a second language proves that you would fit well with that.

Market yourself as a translator

By being fluent in a second language, you can market yourself as more than “just a nurse.” You can point out your value as a translator for other staff who may not be fluent in the language — in fact, this in an actual job called a medical interpreter. This does a couple things for you: it increases your value because you have a skill others may not have, and it gives you the potential for higher pay.

Language learning improves your brain

Learning a new language provides more benefits than simply knowing another language. It improves your ability to multitask, solve problems, and makes you more creative in coming up with solutions. A study by the University of Chicago also indicates that making emotional decisions in your second language may make it easier to make the decision, as it may make you less emotionally connected. In a healthcare setting, where you may form somewhat emotional relationships with patients, this may be one of the biggest benefits.

Becoming bilingual

If you’re going to learn a foreign language, you can take it through your nursing school. Both on-campus and online nursing programs usually offer a foreign language option, and if they don’t offer it directly through the program, ask your academic advisor if you can add a class. You can also find a variety of apps and websites that can help you learn. It’s important to make a thoughtful choice in which foreign language you choose to learn, as well. Spanish tends to be a popular choice, and is good if you live in areas such as the southwestern U.S. or Florida, where there is a high Spanish-speaking population. Mandarin Chinese is fast becoming another popular option.


Your training as a nurse will be your best weapon in seeking employment. But being fluent in a second language gives you a leg up.

Corporate researcher – Finnish

Working with our exciting, dynamic client, this role offers fantastic opportunity for career progression. So much so that all roles within the company start here – they are huge advocates for internal development and progression.

The primary objective of a corporate researcher is to gather information on companies and contacts, along with the technology used within those companies, using a variety of methods. These methods include telephone conversations, email conversations, press articles and google searching.

Your key responsibilities will be contact checking, contact discovery and database updating. Attention to detail, respect for deadlines and an absolute focus on quality are vital for this role.

Fluent Finnish is essential for this role.