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I remember vividly the first time I needed to use my recently acquired Italian language skills in a business setting. It was my week in Rome, and I was meeting with an academic who specialized in labor issues. Her research was top-notch, but not her English-language skills, so when I told her I went through an intensive, full-time, six-month Italian course, she immediately switched to it. I can still picture beads of sweat going down my forehead while I fumbled through what could barely pass as a conversation. My biggest takeaway: my conversation partner wasn’t troubled by my grammar mistakes or my accent — she simply appreciated being able to express complex ideas in her own language.
Most people who’ve been forced to work in a language other than their own know the feeling — it’s humbling yet satisfying when it works well. There are decades of research supporting the benefit of acquiring a second language. Still, I’d argue in today’s economy business leaders especially need to carve out time to pick up a new language for three reasons: it’s better for the mind, lets you build a better network, and gives you a competitive edge.
Learning a new language changes your brain.
We’d all like to skip the pain and awkwardness and get to the fluent stage of a new language, but the journey is part of the upside. We know from cognitive researchers that speaking a second language provides a statistically proven edge in critical thinking challenges. The very act of learning a language may also improve memory. Beyond that, learning new skills puts us back into a growth mindset, as psychologist Carol Dweck and colleagues would argue, and that mindset can translate into other areas of our lives. That idea forms the premise behind the book Beginners by Tom Vanderbilt (a great read in itself). So even before you acquire the new language, you already see benefits.
