With the world moving towards becoming a global village and more and more organizations learning the benefits of working with a culturally diverse workforce, does knowing how to speak English still hold as much value? Apparently, Yes, says a recent report on Challenges and Successes in Multicultural Corporate Communication, published by HAAGA-HELIA. According to the report, even with companies operating internationally, most corporate communication still takes place in English. In fact, the globalization of business has made the role of English extremely important in providing a common platform for interaction. However, the problem occurs when people from different linguistic backgrounds attempt to use the language to communicate across cultures.

Are There Enough Teachers?

Is this growing need to know the language being met by an equal number of teachers? The good news here is that you don’t need any formal qualifications to teach “conversational English,” which is the need of the hour for businesses operating in non-English speaking countries. Today, it is possible for students and even professionals to use their vacations to travel to foreign destinations and even get paid for volunteer work abroad via social welfare organizations like GeoVision.

How Does Learning English Help?

Here’s a look at some of the most important reasons why culturally diverse organizations and non-native English speakers are looking to polish their language skills. You can help in this effort with some of the best “volunteer abroad” programs.

• English is the most commonly used language across the world. Even countries like Brazil, Germany, Spain and countries in South East Asia prefer to conduct business in this language.
• Bilingual people are more employable in a world where the workplace is becoming increasing multicultural. This means that career opportunities for those who learn to speak this universal tongue suddenly open up.
• With students travelling across countries for educational purposes, a common medium of instruction has become important. Therefore, those wishing to travel to the US, UK or even Australia for further education need to be able to understand the language in which classes will be held.
• Although there is wide availability of information on the Internet, a large percentage of web pages (over 1 billion) are in English. This means that regardless of which walk of life one might be from, access to everything from news to entertainment becomes so much easier when one knows the language.
• It is an easier vernacular than many others to learn, including Frech, Mandarin and others.

Learning Can Be Fun

On the whole, not just businessmen, professionals and others working in multicultural setups but even individuals and families are looking to learn the language that will help them communicate across most countries in the world. You can get to see some exciting new places while helping to give back to the world through some of the best “volunteer abroad” programs offered by organizations that have been working across nations and offering opportunities such as teaching conversational English. The best part is that you get to see a whole new country and even get paid for having fun!