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Ramping Up Your Business Standing in the Eyes of Consumers Everywhere

In today’s interconnected global economy, communicating effectively across diverse markets is paramount. Language-related issues can easily attract attention on social platforms, potentially showing an apparent lack of professionalism for your company. Negative feedback publicly shared by employees, customers, or clients about an unsatisfactory experience with your business can quickly spiral into a nightmare impacting your brand’s perception and overall image.

The Importance of Clear and Effective Communication to Market Your Business

Clear and effective communication across all media platforms is not only crucial for legal and compliance reasons, but it is also vital to avoid failing to meet the standards customers have set to see your brand as trustworthy. “For companies entering a bilingual market, the language they choose to approach customers in will play a central role in how they are perceived. Marketers need to strongly consider language when they are positioning a product,” (Ordorica).

Moreover, this is a matter of avoiding losing competitive advantage. “Having foreign language skills is no longer just a benefit for job communication and safety, it’s becoming a necessity to do business,” (Hegeman).

A Lack of Diversity and Language Skills Can Hinder Your Company

Foreign language proficiency is not just a bonus, failure to address the linguistic limitations of your customers can hinder competitiveness not only domestically but also on the international level where comparisons with well-established and more linguistically adept corporations can prove merciless. Furthermore, amplifying the possible negative perceptions is that the business can be portrayed as not such an ideal place to work for people of diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds.

In the current digital age, neglecting language barriers risks undermining your company’s reputation. An untreated issue of inaccurate communication may question the credibility of the company and its capacity to deliver high-quality products or services. Additionally, “Online consumers will avoid unfamiliar or un-translated purchases for fear of making a poorly informed decision,” (Sehl).

As a business leader, you can convey the right messaging to target audiences to mitigate these risks and prevent your customers from feeling neglected because they are being misunderstood. Investing in assessing the language proficiency skills of your bilingual employees is essential as a preventive measure.

Test Your Employee’s Language Skills Today With ACTFL Assessments

Contact Language Testing International (LTI) today, a leader in language proficiency testing for over three decades and across 40 countries. LTI offers comprehensive, reliable, and valid certifications in over 120 languages. Their secure, remotely proctored assessments provide convenience without compromising accuracy. By certifying your workforce’s linguistic proficiency through LTI, you demonstrate a commitment to effective communication and safeguard your business’s image in an increasingly multilingual and multicultural economy.

Sources

American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) and the Lead with Languages Campaign commissioned Ipsos Public Affairs, with the support of Pearson LLC and Language Testing International. (2019). “Making Languages Our Business: Addressing Foreign Language Demand Among U.S. Employers.” https://www.actfl.org/uploads/files/general/MakingLanguagesOurBusiness_FullReport.pdf

Hegeman, Kim. Foreign Language Skills Gap Can Negatively Impact Business Relationships. OEM Off-Highway. https://www.oemoffhighway.com/market-analysis/industry-news/article/21085843/foreign-language-skills-gap-can-negatively-impact-business-relationships

Katie Sehl. 14 Tips for building a Multilingual Social Media Presence. Hootsuite. January 23, 2019. https://blog.hootsuite.com/multilingual-social-media-presence/

Languages Unlimited. “The Power of Social Media Language: How it shapes the Current Generation. https://www.languagesunlimited.com/the-power-of-social-media-language-how-it-shapes-the-current-generation/

Ordorica, Salvador. How Language And Word Choice Can Affect Your Business. Forbes. Sep.30, 2021. https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesbusinesscouncil/2021/09/30/how-language-and-word-choice-can-affect-your business/

The Power of Multilingualism: Elevating Employability in Career and Technical Education

In today’s globalized economy, the ability to communicate in multiple languages is an increasingly valuable asset in the job market. Yet, the importance of multilingualism in Career and Technical Education (CTE) is often overlooked. Thankfully, forward-thinking initiatives like the one led by Executive Director Dr. Michael Herrera at Upper Bucks County Technical School (UBCTS) in Pennsylvania are reshaping the landscape of CTE by recognizing and credentialing language proficiency among students.

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Aligning Your Salary with Your Linguistic Skills Through Language Incentive Pay

Bilingual or multilingual professionals play a pivotal role in ensuring equal access for people from diverse communities, cultures, and ethnic backgrounds to the resources they need. Regardless of the additional language you command, your linguistic skills can make a positive impact in society while at the same time contributing to your employer’s business success. Therefore, consider seeking employment with companies, government agencies, educational institutions, or nonprofit organizations that integrate social responsibility goals into their initiatives and reward employees monetarily for using their linguistic skills at work to bring about meaningful social change.

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Achieving the Vision of Global California 2030: Leveraging ACTFL Assessments for Success

California is embracing the challenge of preparing its students to thrive in a globalized society through the Global California 2030 initiative. This ambitious mission “is to equip students with world language skills to better appreciate and more fully engage with the rich and diverse mixture of cultures, heritages, and languages found in California and the world, while also preparing them to succeed in the global economy.” (California Department of Education) At the forefront of this endeavor are ACTFL assessments, serving as indispensable tools to measure and enhance language proficiency across educational programs. In this article, we explore how programs can align with the mission of Global California 2030 by leveraging ACTFL assessments to foster linguistic excellence and cultural competence.

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Employee Retention is Linked to Offering Value: Take a Look at Language Incentive Pay

Every company has its unique culture, values, and circumstances, but consider the advantages that a language incentive pay program can give to your business. Talented bilingual or multilingual professionals often seek job opportunities in a diverse-oriented work environment where language skills are recognized and rewarded. So, a language incentive pay program can help position your organization as an attractive workplace, attracting employees eager to address and solve language-related misunderstandings and risks.

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Let the Data Show You the Way

Dr. Rubio is a nationally recognized world language scholar who has published extensively on the topic of dual language immersion teaching and learning. In 2023, Dr. Rubio joined the faculty of Yale University as the new Director of the Center for Language Study. Prior to that, Dr. Rubio served as a Professor of Spanish Linguistics in the Department of World Languages and Cultures and co-founder and Director of the Second Language Teaching and Research Center at the University of Utah.

If you teach or are otherwise involved with learners in Dual Language Immersion (DLI) classrooms, you likely understand the various challenges and rewarding moments that come with interacting with these students.

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Be a Catalyst for Clear Communication Across Cultures as a Translation or Localization Professional

Depending on your aspirations as a bi/multilingual professional within the language services industry, you might be contemplating a foray into either translation or localization services. It’s important to recognize that translation and localization serve distinct purposes in the creation of multilingual content, although a successful strategy may involve a blend of both to effectively reach diverse audiences.

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How to Set-Up a Language Pay Program That Makes Sense for Your Business

Implementing a reward system that monetarily incentivizes the contributions of your bilingual and multilingual employees requires careful consideration, thorough research, and strategic planning. It is a multi-step process that can bring significant benefits to your business because when you develop a program that recognizes and highlights employees’ language skills it makes them feel valued. “To pay bilingual employees fairly, companies must provide extra pay, often called ‘bilingual pay’ or ‘language pay’. Bilingual pay recognizes the tangible benefits and unique skills bilinguals offer,” (Salary.com Staff).

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How to Negotiate Your Salary if You’re Bilingual

You found an exciting job posting, submitted your application, and made the shortlist. Now that it’s time to attend the interview, questions about pay expectations will likely arise. Bilingual speakers often bring additional value to a company, and you want to receive fair compensation for your skills.

If the thought of negotiating your salary feels intimidating, read on to learn how to assess the value of your communication and language skills and acquire salary negotiation techniques for attractive remuneration.

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Best Jobs for Bilingual Spanish Speakers

Of the more than 6,000 languages in the world, Spanish is the fourth most spoken — approximately 559 million people use it to communicate as of 2023, according to Statista. With such a notable portion of the world able to speak Spanish, bilingual Spanish speakers have endless opportunities to apply their language skills to their careers and generate an income. Discover some of the best jobs for bilingual Spanish speakers below.

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