5 Reasons You Should Learn English Today

Your life is already great as it is. You have a job, you have friends and a family, and you have everything you need in your own country. English isn't easy to learn. English grammar is confusing, there are so many words, there are so many accents, and for sure it's going to take time and effort to learn English. So why bother learning English at all? Here are 5 reasons you should learn English today!

5. Improved Global Communication

Global communication means being able to effectively read, write, listen and speak using the English language with people around the world. When you know English, you can communicate with the majority of people in the world. English is becoming the dominant intermediary language that peoples from all over the world use to communicate with each other. One source estimates that over 80% of information found on the Internet is written in English (Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/4684923).

Not being able to communicate in English creates a huge barrier to success in all areas of a person's life. However, when you know English, you can access the knowledge of the world in text, video and audio. Sir Francis Bacon said, "Knowledge is power." Further, knowledge creates possibility. And, with effective English communication skills you can share your unique ideas and perspectives with the world. You can be heard but a much larger audience.

4. Better Career Opportunities

Great English opens doors to great jobs and is the vehicle to business opportunities. English fluency can be directly related to financial reward. One study (http://www.voxeu.org/article/it-pays-speak-english) in India discovered that the hourly wages of men increased by 34% when they became fluent in English.

The types of jobs available to fluent English speakers is much more broad than for those who cannot communicate in English. Because most companies want or need to do business with English speaking countries, staff who are able to speak English are a huge asset. And in North America, great English skills immediately creates opportunities regardless of your ethnicity.

Consider also the vast opportunities to do business abroad that become available with fluent English. For example, small and large businesses around the world need web developers. A talented web developer with English fluency would no longer be dependent upon local economic conditions for business success because a world full of clients would become available. Check out www.odesk.com to see current freelance opportunities that can be done from anywhere in the world.

3. A Better Life

Improved English enables a better life for the individual who speak English as well as their family and children.

Odds are your children learning English in school -- how much more would you be able to help your children if you spoke great English? How amazing would it be to communicate with your kids and share in their new experiences that they have because of English?

With fluent English, a whole world becomes available. You can travel to new places and never worry about not being able to find your way. From ordering food to going out and enjoying sights, great English translates to an amazing travel experience!

The key benefit of having great job opportunities is a better life. More money, a more satisfying work life, and more career flexibility will all result in more contentment and fulfillment, more stimulation and more life!

2. Broader Perspectives and Better Integration

When you speak only one language, your perspective of the world, what you can know and experience, is limited. People who only have one language can also become isolated and insular.

When you know English you can see the world through the eyes of other cultures. Speaking English means more than just knowing words, it means understanding new ideas and points of view. So much is lost in translation. And you need to rely on others to do the translating and interpreting for you.

Being able to understand English has an immediate benefit -- when you want to understand world news, English fluency would enable you to read newspapers from around the world -- you would no longer be subject to the bias of your own country's media.

Having access to different ideas and opinions expands your consciousness. And the realm of possibility grows beyond what you could possibly imagine. Your understanding of the world and yourself will increase with leaps and bounds.
 

1. Freedom

All of these benefits can be summarized in one word: Freedom! With fluent English, you have a key to most of the doors in the world. You can go anywhere and do anything. You will become limitless.

And it's not just because you can speak a second language -- your mind changes when you learn a second language. Cognitive function has been demonstrated to improve when someone learns a new language. People have also been shown to be more creative, have increased mental flexibility and be better problem solvers. (Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/4684923)

If you want to travel or study abroad, you can. If you want to apply for a better job, you can. If you want to learn more about another country or culture that doesn't speak your language, you can. And if you want to watch movies and TV, you can, without dubbing and subtitles!

With English fluency, you will be free. You will be limitless!

 

5 Reasons to Learn English today are Improved Global Communication, Better Career Opportunities, A Better Life, Broader Perspectives and Better Integration, and Freedom. There are so many more reasons to learn English today -- what are you waiting for?      

 10 Key Dimensions of Culture

Also posted at http://www.overcomethebarrier.com/2013/05/29/10-key-dimensions-of-culture/

Our workplaces are becoming more and more globalized. It is now a reality that in our daily work our staff will encounter someone from another culture. The key to success in business is to train your staff to deal with someone who has different values and beliefs than they do. Knowing these 10 key differences between cultures will certainly help your staff work better with international clientele.

There are many differences between cultures. The following table, adapted from The Managing Diversity Survival Guide, Gardenswartz & Rowe (IRWIN.1994) by Deborah Hall of the Immigrant Welcome Centre (www.immigrantwelcome.ca), summarizes the10 Key Dimensions of Culture.

Dimensions of Culture	Western Culture	Non-Western Cultures
Sense of self and space	Informal Handshake	Formal Hugs, bows, handshakes
Communication & language	Explicit, direct communication Emphasis on content Meaning found in words	Implicit, indirect communication Emphasis on context Meaning found around words
Dress & appearance	"Dress for success" ideal Wide range in accepted dress	Dress seen as a sign of position, wealth, prestige Religious rules
Food and eating habits	Eating as necessity	Dining as a social experience Religious rules
Times & time consciousness	Linear and exact time Consciousness Value on promptness Time = money	Elastic and relative time Consciousness Time spent on enjoyment of Relationships
Relationships, family, friends	Focus on nuclear family Responsibility for self Value on youth, age seen as handicap	Focus on extended family Loyalty & responsibility to family Age given status and respect
Values and Norms	Individual orientation Independence Preference for direct Confrontation of conflict	Group orientation Conformity Preference of harmony
Beliefs and attitudes	Self directed Challenging of authority Individuals control their Destiny Gender equity	Hierarchical Respect for authority and social order Individuals accept their destiny Different roles for men and women
Mental processes and learning style	Linear, logical and sequential Problem-solving focus	Lateral, holistic, simultaneous Accepting of life's difficulties
Work habits and practices	Emphasis on tasks Rewards based on individual achievement Work has intrinsic value	Emphasis on relationships Rewards based on seniority, relationships Work is a necessity of life

Awareness of different values, beliefs and attitudes is the first step in becoming more effective at dealing with different cultures.

The second step is to have staff become aware of their own preferences and habits, as well as become aware of what habits they have a hard time dealing with. Any number of assessments can be conducted, from simply going through the above list and selecting preferences, to psychological testing (e.g. see https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/ ), to enrolling in cross-cultural training programs. Understanding our own beliefs and attitudes gives us a place to start from.

The third step is to adapt individual beliefs, attitudes and behaviors to more effective ones. This step, however, is highly dependent upon your staff's willingness and motivation to change. Certainly your staff have the option of doing nothing about themselves and demanding that their business partners adapt to their styles. In the current marketplace, however, this attitude is not likely to lead to business success.

Knowing the 10 Key Dimensions of Culture prepares your staff to be successful in the global marketplace. Different strategies can be taken to encourage staff to be interested in changing their perceptions. Regardless of the strategy that's taken, they key is to get individual buy-in. Tolerance of other cultures can't effectively be "faked" and it certainly can't be forced. However, by increasing your staff's awareness of cultural differences they will be in a better position to work in this global world.