Monolingualism can seriously damage your career propsects

Or bilingualism can seriously improve your career prospects!

The English are bad (and maybe a little lazy) when it comes to learning a second language. What is the point when so many people abroad have taken the trouble to learn our language? And let’s face it, modern languages are not the easiest of subjects at school. Children see foreign language as tough and often choose to drop it as a subject at secondary school. Since 2004 the number of children taking languages in the UK has dropped by a third (that’s over 150,000 children every year!). But surely no real damage done?

If only it was that simple.

Second Languages open up career opportunities and much more

Language is not a subject to be given up lightly. It is one of life’s great gifts and the sign of a good education. Of course a second language means your child’s life is enriched with new experiences, cultures and people.

Did you know than a secong language improves mental performance?

However, did you know that children with competence in two languages show enhanced creativity, improved test scores and better literacy? All true.

Did you know that they have better career prospects and can expect to be paid better? This year the CBI stated that more than a third of British businesses hire people for their language skills, but that they are increasingly forced to recruit from overseas to meet demand. In the meantime a Personnel Today report showed that the average wage for language graduates is higher than other graduates in areas such as Maths, Physics, Chemistry and Engineering after as little as 3 years. Added to that a recent poll of 500 companies, conducted for CILT, the National Centre for Languages, revealed that one in four said the ability to speak a second language would give a candidate the edge when applying for a job.

It would seem that opting out of acquiring a foreign language can seriously damage your career prospects. And the job you thought was yours, is in fact going to the European who has bothered to learn your language.

The truth is, language is much more than an ordinary subject. It opens up special opportunities and experiences.

So the question should not be: why bother learning a foreign language? It should be: what is the best way for me to learn a language? It doesn’t have to be difficult or a chore. Find the right tools that embed proven language learning principles and a second language can be yours (and the life that goes with it).

KLOO is a language game that makes learning a language fast, easy and fun. Choose from French, Spanish and English learning games.