According to recent research1 undertaken by the CBI and EDI, employers are increasingly dissatisfied with school leavers’ employability skills. Foreign language skills are a particular barrier, with only 29 percent very satisfied or satisfied, leaving 71 percent dissatisfied. In addition, 55 percent of those polled perceive shortfalls in school leavers’ international cultural awareness.
And it is not as though employers are looking for fluency in second or third languages. The report shows that most (65 percent) are looking for conversational ability, to help break the ice with customers or suppliers and as part of a wider cultural understanding.
Language is a key to culture and although English is the international language of business, the old adage, ‘You can buy in your own language but you must sell in the language of your customer’ is illustrated in our own export figures. We have £28,875m worth of exports to the US and £22,828 of imports; similarly, with the Republic of Ireland, the figures are £12,223m and £9,909 respectively.
However, where the language of our customers is not English, we buy more than we are able to sell. We have £20,801m worth of exports to Germany, against £33,628m of imports; £13,596 and £16,673 2 respectively with The Netherlands, and so on.
BAD LANGUAGE SKILLS COULD LOSE YOU BUSINESS
Although only 4 percent of firms are certain they have lost business as a result of inadequate language skills, the true figure could be much higher because 17 per cent of respondents said they did not know. Surveys of SME exporting companies in the UK show that one in five has lost business through poor language skills.
And people with Mandarin/Cantonese are now as much in demand (44 percent) as those with skills in the traditional choices such as French (49 percent) and German (34 percent). In fact, language requirements are driven by the emerging markets. Increasing business with the BRIC economies (Brazil, Russia, India, China) makes those languages valuable and Spanish (32 percent) is also in considerable demand, particularly for doing business with the emerging markets of South America. In addition, nearly one fifth of employers (19 percent) are looking for staff with Arabic skills for trading with one of the most energy-rich regions of the world.
But the UK is bottom of the league in terms of competence in other languages. A survey of 28 countries, published by the EC, aggregated all non-mother tongue languages spoken and produced the following testimony to other countries’ linguistic competence: Luxembourg 244 percent, The Netherlands 159 percent, Denmark 154 percent and Malta 147 percent. UK came in last with a miserable 34 percent.
The International Student Placement Office (ISPO) at Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire Chamber of Commerce arranges placements for students of other EU member states with companies across the UK. “There is a deficit of linguistic ability in the UK,” says ISPO student placement co-ordinator Ben Littler. “The majority of companies I work with indicate that they need our service because they have very limited resources able to communicate in other languages.
“Over the past two years, our service has grown by over 90 percent, partly because of the surge in interest in export as a result of the weakened pound,” he says. “That so many companies have turned to us for assistance is a clear demonstration of how British-based language skills have been found wanting.”
Much has been written about the need for more students of the STEM subjects but languages are neglected. This is partly because in the UK, language learning tends to be mistakenly perceived as an arts-based subject and therefore of little relevance to the worlds of science, technology, business and industry.
AN INCREASING NEED FOR FOREIGN LANGUAGE SKILLS
“In an increasingly globalised world - with goods, services and people regularly moving across international borders, it is very important to equip Britain’s young people with foreign language skills,” says communications manager for British Chambers of Commerce Sam Turvey.
Commercial imperatives aside, the view that ‘everyone speaks English’ shows supreme cultural arrogance. Only 6 percent of the world’s population is a native English speaker and 75 percent speaks no English at all, according to the CILT research. And since much business and repeat business is achieved by building personal relationships, at least the basics in the language of the country where you are doing business is essential. Try building up a rapport through an interpreter.
One thing is for certain, there is no such thing as ‘not good at languages’. The human race has an innate language ability: we learn our native language with no artificial aids. And the “everyone” that speaks English, is largely speaking it as a second or third language. Where is yours?
Notes
1 Ready to grow: business priorities for education and skills (May 2010)
2 figures from Talking World Class, The impact of language skills on the UK economy, undertaken by CILT, The National Centre for Languages (2007)
