More Ways To Get Lucky By Learning A Foreign Language

I just got back from Buenos Aires this weekend and have been sick as a dog since then. Maybe I’ll write an article on how to get lucky by preventing sickness when traveling. In the meanwhile, I have been thinking a lot about my last article where I decided that it was time to start speaking Spanish. Just today, I stumbled upon an article by The Personal Financier who wrote an article titled “5 Practical Reasons Why You Should Definitely Learn a Foreign Language.”

In the article, the author highlights 5 reasons to learn a foreign language. I touched on the overall benefit in my last article but I felt that I should give over her detailed points as well.

#1 Opening an entirely new potential “market” for yourself

#2 Creating a competitive edge

#3 Branding yourself differently

#4 Increasing your networking opportunities

#5 Expanding your horizons

I mentioned that knowing another language will help you get lucky when you are traveling. I wrote that it will help you communicate and not to miss out on Luckortunity that comes up while you are there. The author of this article tells us why knowing a foreign language can help us financially and in the work force. I suggest you take a look at her article for an explanation of each of these reasons.

On a similar note, I had an interesting conversation with an older gentleman sitting next to me on the way back from Argentina. He mentioned that he was recently retired and we spoke about the differences in the workforce today versus when he started out. A major point that we discussed was that due to technology, everything today is much simpler but the simplicity has a price. Today, it is easy to speak to somebody across the globe and you can even do it for free or very cheap with Skype or Voip. But with every advance in technology, there is a consequence. The world is now a much smaller place and we are now competing for business with millions of people in China, India, Bangladesh and so many other places that can now enter the playing field. With the internet and cheap phone service, all you need to do business in America is speak English.

As Americans, to keep up with the game, we must learn foreign languages to be able to stay competitive. Although some people might think it would be nice, we can’t expect the entire world to learn English on our behalf.