In today’s global economy, learning a new language can open doors for better employment opportunities. From tourism, entertainment and public relations to publishing houses and international organizations, there are various fields where multi-linguals can find lucrative jobs.

• In the USA, nearly half a million job postings in 2014 specifically requested foreign language proficiency.
• The Telegraph cites research claiming that Mandarin, French, German, Spanish and Polish are best languages to study for graduates. These languages offer endless future prospects.

Here are five recommended foreign languages that one can learn to augment their career:

1. Spanish – Spanish is one of the easiest and most popular foreign languages to learn. It is the official language of than 20 countries which makes it suitable for domestic as well as international business in the USA.
2. French – French is turning into an important business language. It is spoken in more than 40 countries in the world. If you wish to break into the European markets for a good job, say “oui” to French.
3. Japanese – Japanese may be a difficult language to learn for native English speakers but once mastered, it can offer tremendous career prospects in Asia’s cutting-edge markets.
4. Mandarin Chinese – Proficiency in Mandarin can offer you great opportunities in China and other Asian countries. It is also one of the most difficult languages to learn.
5. Arabic – It is the official language of more than 20 countries and also the fifth most spoken language in the USA. If you are looking for a career in the petroleum or defense industry, proficiency in Arabic can boost your demand.

Whether you are looking for a career that will take you around the world or you wish to get a high-paying job, there are endless possibilities to be had if you learn a new language.

How to start?

To gauge your interest in a particular language, you can start with a language app. Try learning words and phrases in that language to assess the difficulty level. AlterGyan offers such offline language apps in various languages that are free to install and fun to use. The apps contain more than 1200 commonly-used phrases in languages like French, Japanese and Spanish. Since each phrase is voiced out by a native speaker, you can also learn the correct pronunciation.