Studying languages is a vital tool in building the competitiveness of a nation. For a nation to be globally competitive and secured, the study and knowledge of foreign languages is important. Experts believe that increasing international tension and weakened economy cause the nation in need of more transparency in communication to different people. As a matter of fact, in the United States alone, the wide deficiency of knowledge in Asian and Middle Eastern languages is an immediate problem. Being a global leader it’s hard to maintain its position if it is incapable to be more conversant with the languages of foreign countries, thus hindering absolute communication.

According to a 2006 department release of education, around 200 million children attending school in China study the English language, while only twenty four thousand of its counterparts in the U.S. study the Chinese languages. The gap is significant, of which can be envisage a threatening competency.

On the deeper level, the study and knowledge of foreign languages has great impact on the international market. Several foreign countries like India, Britain, Singapore and Japan (among others) are closing the quality gap. They are offering products that are equally better and because of this, major countries like the US are forced to embrace new strategies for a more competitive market. In a competitive market where products are increasing in quality, leading countries need to be able to compete on communication and service, where language is a key in the aspect of interaction.

Globalization and technology are advancing the players in competitive markets. If major countries don’t have the language asset to employ, they leave themselves at huge disadvantage with countries where workers can manage with the knowledge of multiple languages.

The revolution of technology and communication is crucial, for it enables us to interact with people who don’t primarily speak the English language. In the international market, you are at great disadvantage if your competitor can speak the language of the customer and you don’t.