About a century ago more people would not have appreciated the study of a foreign language as they do today. Gone are those days when patriotism towards one’s own language was a major deterrent to learning foreign languages, a time when most nations were trying to throw their alien rulers out of their countries in their freedom struggles. Gone are those days when people were proud of their mother or father tongues and considered that their native languages alone will suffice the need to survive. Language skills today have become as important as other business and career skills like IT, vocational or professional skills. Thus learning a foreign language today has become essential for an individual be that for careers, growing a business, for self-grooming or even to make an impression.

All that one needs to possess these days is a drive to learn a foreign language and there are a plethora of institutes and courses that teach various foreign languages like French, German, Spanish, Japanese etc. Today’s world economy has bridged the barriers of race, sex, color and religion and the world has become a smaller place. Today’s businesses also demands language skills to expand and grow in other countries. Tens and hundreds of businesses world wide are expanding and growing their businesses by promoting them in countries other than their countries of origin. The tremendous growth of the Internet has further increased the demand for language skills. In Canada an official rule also says that all commercial establishments must have their websites created both in English and French, the official languages of the country.

These days learning a foreign language can also be a very good solution for unemployment. There are abundant opportunities for translators, interpreters, sales and marketing personnel who know a foreign language, liaison officers, software programmers, customer and technical support personnel and of course teachers teaching foreign languages. Of all translation jobs seem to be the most abundant and lucrative. Tens and thousands of books and manuals for software alone need to be translated in multiple languages for a customer base that is world wide.  Software services then account for the rest. Many software applications are multilingual and can support more than one language, some even dozens. Though most of the translation is done programmatically it still requires a language expert to oversee the final results. Bilingual abilities for customer support personnel also fetch higher wages and salaries. This is not to be misunderstood that the unemployed should all begin learning languages. For many learning a language is an uphill task. However with the interactive learning tools of today mastering a language need not be as intimidating as it used to be.

Language can also ease race and border barriers. You are more welcome in an alien nation if you know the language of the people there and can converse in their tongue. There is a marked difference between trying to speak a common language such as English and speaking in the native tongue in these places. People in these countries immediately respect you and think you care about their culture as much they do because in any culture language is the key identity.