5 Best Languages to Learn for Business

Learning a language for business can significantly improve your career prospects and help you grow as a professional and as an individual.

When you speak another language, even if you can only manage a few words, you’ll be able to communicate with colleagues and customers across the world. You’ll gain better insight into the global market, customer culture and be more likely to discover brand new exciting opportunities.

With over 7000 languages in the world, deciding exactly which language to learn for business can be tricky. Obviously, it depends on your career aspirations, which part of the world you want to focus on and whether you’re willing to accept a challenge.

Here at Mondly, we offer over 40 different global languages as well as specialized content for a range of business industries and sectors to provide you with the best return on the time and effort you invest. Here are our top five languages to learn for business.

The 5 best languages to learn for business

1. Mandarin Chinese

By far, one of the best languages to learn for business is Chinese. Over the past few decades, their economy has flourished to become one of the largest in the world and looks set to overtake the US within the next few months.

If you want to get ahead in the international business world and are keen to focus on the Asian market, you should choose Mandarin Chinese for business.

Despite its reputation as one of the most difficult languages to learn for English speakers, Mandarin can be fun and straightforward to learn.

Of course, getting to grips with Chinese characters and tones will take some effort. But speaking even a tiny bit of Chinese will demonstrate your self-motivation, ambition and dedication to both employers and colleagues and help you stand out against the competition.

Speaking Chinese for business will also open doors for you in other countries as it’s also spoken in Taiwan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore and throughout expat communities around the world.

2. English

Named ‘the fastest-spreading language in human history’ by Harvard Business Review, English is considered to be the most global language in both business and everyday life.

With an estimated 400 million native English speakers in the US, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South African and an estimated 2 billion non-native speakers, the language has become an essential skill for business communication throughout the world.

English is the language of technology, science, international organizations, sports, aviation, advertising and education. If you’re looking to learn a language for business that will be useful globally, choose English.

3. Spanish

If you’re interested in conquering Latin American or Spanish markets, want to communicate more effectively with the 41 million Spanish speakers in the USA or want to learn a language that will give you more bang for your buck, choose Spanish.

As the third biggest language in the world, learning Spanish will allow you to communicate with over 530 speakers in countries as diverse as Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, México, Nicaragua, Panamá, Paraguay, Perú, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Uruguay, Venezuela, Spain, and Equatorial Guinea.

When it comes to your career, learning Spanish for business could impress prospective employers and help you discover exciting and stimulating new opportunities. According to employment solution company monster.com, “Seventy-nine percent of North American recruiters cited Spanish as the additional language most in demand by employers.”

4. Arabic

Ranked as the fifth most spoken language in the world and offering higher salaries and unique job opportunities, Arabic has more than 315 million native speakers. Additionally, Middle Eastern countries such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are attracting more career-minded individuals than ever before.

The economy in this part of the world centers around thriving industries like oil, gas, tourism and fashion, creating a combined GDP of $2.5 trillion across the 30 counties that comprise the Arab world.

To learn Arabic for business, you’ll need to be highly motivated and love a challenge. It’s written from right to left using a non-Latin alphabet of 28 characters that excludes most vowels. Some sounds of the language don’t exist in English and are difficult for non-native speakers to produce.

5. Portuguese

Portuguese has often been overshadowed by Spanish when it comes to learning languages for business. But thanks to the growth in industries like mining, agriculture and manufacturing and despite the strain of COVID-19, the Brazilian industry remains healthy.

However, learning Portuguese for business won’t only benefit your career and business prospects when working with this South American giant – Portuguese is also spoken by over 220 million in Portugal, Mozambique, Angola, Guinea-Bissau, East Timor, Equatorial Guinea, Macau, Cape Verde, and São Tomé and Príncipe. There’s also a strong cultural presence of Portuguese in parts of India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Indonesia.

A romance language like French and Spanish, Portuguese is also one of the easiest languages to learn for English speakers.

Learn a foreign language for business with Mondly

Taking business language lessons is a great way to expand your global business skills, improve your resume, connect with new cultures and take your international career to a whole new level. Whether you’re learning Chinese, English, Arabic, Spanish, Portuguese or any of the other languages we offer here at Mondly, your new language skills will change your life.

Enhance your career prospects and skills with language learning for business. Ask us about our corporate language packages today business@mondly.com