Improve your Employability – Learn a Language!!
In the global marketplace in which we live, the ability to speak another language is a skill which can certainly go some way towards improving your employability. In fact, when working in recruitment, we often found that sourcing candidates with proven abilities in a second language was one of the most difficult things to find. In sectors as varied as I.T., Marketing and Hospitality, proficiency in another language was often one of the most employable skills that a candidate could have.
Obviously, speaking another language may be more relevant for some jobs and careers than others; however it is a skill which once acquired, could potentially benefit you wherever you go. If however it has been a while since you studied a language, it may seem quite a daunting prospect. However, that need not be the case, especially if you utilize some of the excellent online resources which now exist to teach language skills. Here are a few of our favourite platforms for learning a new language and in turn improving your employability.
Featured previously in our Startup of the Week feature, Lingibli currently provides the resources to learn 19 different languages and is adding more all the time. The service offers free printable Language pages as well as having Smartphone Apps for both Android and Apple.
Busuu
This platform combines a social network element with the actual learning function. With over 17 million users worldwide, Busuu offers the user the ability to learn up to 12 different languages through interactive courses and lessons as well as through engaging with the site’s user community. Busuu also has Apps for both iOS and Android for learning on the move.
Livemocha
Billed as the world’s largest language learning community, Livemocha offers course in 38 languages and again combines instructional courses with the shared knowledge of the community.
Duolingo
The newest platform Duolingo is due to come out of private beta on June 19th and is certainly one of the most innovative. It currently provides the opportunity to learn Spanish, German and French for English speakers and the ability to learn English for Spanish speakers. There are plans too to add Italian, Portuguese and Chinese. Its’ real innovation though lies in the fact that as users progress through the lessons, they are simultaneously helping to translate websites and other documents. Duolingo is in effect a language learning website as well as a crowdsourced text translation platform.
We hope this helps you improve your employability and if you feel there are other language learning services that we should add to this list, please feel free to let us know via the comments section below.
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