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Their concern comes as a high number of British companies do not export internationally due to a lack of language skills. This lack of language skills in the workplace is seen as one of the main barriers to trading internationally which ultimately means missing out on potential economic growth. The BCC also recommends that the Government offer tax breaks as an incentive for UK companies to give their staff much-needed language training.

Language Advantage Limited recently highlighted an article about the concerns by the House of Lords EU Committee that not enough children are learning languages at school.

The BBC Director-General said ‘Re-establishing foreign languages as core subjects within the national curriculum and in workplace training would mean that the next generation of business owners are ‘born global’ with language skills’.

Read more about the British Chambers of Commerce and why it is concerned that not enough British school children are learning languages>>

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Some of the experiments included giving people scenarios such as financial betting or hypothetical choices in both the native language and then in the foreign language. In each of these experiments, the people used more analytical thought and deliberation when thinking of the scenario in the foreign language than when thinking in their own native language.

The researchers believe that this analytical approach could be useful in day-to-day life such as when making financial decisions. One researcher said that ‘Over a long time horizon, this might very well be beneficial.’

Read more about the study and why thinking in a foreign language could make you think more clearly>>

Michel Thomas language courses are available in over 10 languages including French, Spanish, German, Italian as well as Portuguese, Russian and Arabic. With the Michel Thomas range of language courses it couldn’t be easier. Just relax, listen and learn.

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Saint Patrick’s Day is also a chance to celebrate the best of Irish culture. It is a party day with revellers wearing green (the colour associated with Ireland) and shamrocks (the Irish emblem). They attend parades and drink lots of Irish ales and beer, mostly Guinness! The Irish, non-Irish and expats join together in the festivities which happen not only in Ireland and Northern Ireland but also in the UK, USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the tiny island of Montserrat and even Uruguay! On this day everyone is Irish!! Lá Fhéile Pádraig Sona Daoibh!

Take the time to learn a bit of the Irish language so you can impress everyone next Saint Patrick’s Day!

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In honour of Saint Patrick’s Day, learn to speak Irish with Eurotalk>>

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This kids show introduces a few words in different languages through Lingo and his bug buddies. There are 15 episodes in the first series which use a balance of songs and cartoons to encourage young children to learn new foreign words in a fun and exciting way.

The Lingo Show starts on Monday 12th March 2012 at 9.35am and 1.35pm on BBC CBeebies (UK only).

For more information on The Lingo Show TV series>>

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According to a recent article, the number of Greeks turning up at the German Language Institute in Athens and other language schools, has increased dramatically over the past year. Economic data has shown that Germany’s economy is strong with a low unemployment rate, both of which are highly attractive to other countries and, in particular, to the Greeks. Learning the German language would be advantageous in finding jobs.

Ulrike Drissner, deputy head of the Goethe Institute in Athens explains her impression of the rise in the number of Greeks learning German. She says that, ”We do connect it to the crisis,’ adding, ‘They are desperately trying to find better opportunities in the labour market whether it be in Greece or abroad.’

Read more about why Greeks are learning the German language>>

What are your thoughts on the rise in the number of Greeks learning the German language? Are you living in Greece or know of someone living there who is learning German? Why do you think learning German would be beneficial? We’d love to hear from you. Please send us your comments using the Comments box below.

Read Rosemarie’s review and find out why she thinks it is a well thought out approach to Spanish language learning>>

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No-one said that learning a language was going to be an easy task and especially during the school years. However, it has become clear that learning a foreign language is not seen as a priority leading to employment, but rather as a nice subject to learn which may or may not be useful as a career. Will Hutton – the writer of the article – goes on to outline that this mindset, as well as the general perceived idea that it isn’t necessary to learn a foreign language when English is the global language, is part of the reason why there is such a reluctance to learn languages here.

“But Britain has to build, has to trade and has to be open” he says. The sooner the UK realises this the better, otherwise it runs the risk of isolating itself politically and economically in the near future.

Read more about Will Hutton’s article in The Guardian and why he feels that Britain is reluctant to learn languages>>