How much does speaking a language pay?

There are loads of articles on how pleasant it is to speak multiple languages; how good it is for your brain and how enriching it is for your life. But does knowledge of a foreign language literally enrich you? In other words, does speaking a foreign language have financial benefits?

Various studies have shown that, yes, this is the case. Exactly how much your language skills benefit you depends on how and where you use them. For example, François Grin, a researcher at the University of Geneva, has shown that knowledge of English in the German-speaking part of Switzerland will net you at least 18% extra in salary. In the French-speaking part of Switzerland, it tags ‘just’ 11% on to your pay.

Increasing value of Chinese Grin has also calculated that for Europeans, English yields the best returns. In financial terms, the effort you make to learn the language is recouped the fastest. Perhaps not surprisingly, French and German follow on the list of lucrative languages for Europeans. And according to his calculations, the value of Chinese on the labor market is increasing the fastest.

Dutch required! Job vacancy site Indeed recently carried out a research. They compared the required language skills listed in Dutch vacancies with those from the previous year and saw a skyrocketing rise in demand—nearly 70%—for knowledge of Chinese (Mandarin). Another striking fact is the 24% jump in job listings which specify knowledge of Dutch as a requirement.

Find the right job If you want to take a step in your career soon, then brushing up on your language skills is not at all a bad idea. For example, we see that many people use their education budgets following reorganizations for language training. They are convinced that by speaking English or German well, for example, they will have a better chance of finding the right job.

To come back to the first question in the article: speaking a language will not automatically make you rich, but it does have its benefits! Are you ready to improve your foreign language skills? Regina Coeli’s trainers would be happy to help! You can make tremendous leaps forward in a training course designed just for you. Simply contact us to discuss the options.