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Monolingual countries that do not encourage language learning at a young age – the UK, for example – can miss international opportunities and lose out on potential earnings, despite the native-English advantage. This is notably true of Switzerland: as a result of the multilingual nature of the country – German, French and Italian are official languages and commonly spoken – it’s estimated that multilingualism now accounts for up to 10% of the country’s GDP. On a national level, studies have shown that countries in which a high proportion of the workforce speaks a second language have a higher proportion of their Gross Domestic Product (GDP) from international trade. Being able to converse directly prevents potentially costly misunderstandings and improves accuracy it also saves translation costs. Speaking more languages helps you understand the global marketplace better, as well as understanding the wants and needs of international customers, suppliers and partners. Language skills quite literally open doors for new opportunities. One of the key ways that becoming bilingual or multilingual can boost your career is by instantly improving your chances of doing business or finding work internationally. It opens doors – for individuals and for countries Making the effort to master English – the global lingua franca – or indeed another language, can be the stepping stone that you need to make the leap up from junior to management, or even to the executive level. It’s no secret that being fluent in a second language can help you get ahead in your career.
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