Jasmine Birtles
Your money-making expert. Financial journalist, TV and radio personality.
Research reveals which language can earn you £50k+!
George Brown
11th Dec 2018
A new study has revealed that speaking a second language is likely to earn you a salary of £50,000+.
City Lit conducted the research and found that speaking a second language can significantly boost the chances of somebody living in the UK of earning over £50k.
It was also revealed which languages were the most valuable to know and which ones brought in the least amount of additional income, based on the responses of survey questions.
As our dedicated article, Boost your Job Prospects for Free, highlights, leaning a new language can be a great way to impress employers and secure positions with higher wages.
So to help you understand which languages are the most valuable and how to increase your ability of learning one faster, continue reading below for our brand new guide.
- The most valuable languages ranked 1-5
- Tips for learning a new language
- Useful resources for learning a new language
It’s estimated that only 8% of British people speak two languages or more, which explains the reason behind the higher wage offers for people who are bilingual.
The Most Valuable Languages to Know
The study found that those who spoke Turkish as a second language could expect to earn an average of £53,000, which is the highest earning language of all surveyed.
Those who also speak Gujarati – a language native to the Indian state of Gujarat – could see their income boosted, with an average salary of £44,109per annum.
If you speak Chinese (any form) as a second language, you’ll be the third highest earner, with an average salary of £42,327.
The highest earners are below:
- Turkish – £53,071
- Gujarati – £44,109
- Chinese (any form) – £42,327
- Somalian – £42,167
- Italian – £39,236
Tips for learning a new language
Don’t worry about being perfect
Learning a new skill is a slow and testing process and having the patience to stick it out can be difficult if you’re not seeing progress.
One of the biggest mistakes people make is aiming for perfection and expecting themselves to be able to achieve it in a short amount of time.
The truth is you will never speak another dialect fluently perfectly, because not even native speakers can do that.
Think about the different accents and slang used from one place to another in the UK, nobody really speaks ‘perfect English’ so don’t worry about trying to reach a level of perfection in a different language.
Simply build yourself up slowly and take satisfaction in learning a few new words a day.
The first step is always the hardest
As is the case in anything in life, taking the first step when developing a new skill is the hardest.
It can be difficult to know where and how to start, which is why it’s critical to have patience with yourself.
Nobody, in human history, has ever been able to do something without practice, it’s just how the brain works and it’s a fundamental part of how we learn from the moment we are born.
Try to enjoy the process as much as possible as this also helps the learning process significantly.
Find somebody to practice with
If you need to practice speaking a language with somebody, you can usually find people on Gumtree who want to practice their English.
Fortunately for people in the UK, English is the most widespread language spoken in the world, though Mandarin is the one spoken by the most people.
This means that there is a huge demand to learn English and so people from all over the world use Gumtree and other online resources to try to find people who are willing to swap English for Spanish, French, Italian etc.
Watch films in a different language
Watching a film in a different language may not be the most enjoyable experience, however it can help to improve your understanding.
Resources for learning a new language
Duolingo is a free app that is available to download directly to your phone or tablet.
The app is great for getting started with a number of languages and teaches you in a simple and easy to understand way.
Millions of people all over the world have used Duolingo and the team have even helped to restore Gaelic as a spoken language in Ireland as it was slowly dying out as less and less people knew how to speak the language.
Babbel
Babbel is a competitor of Duolingo, however, it’s more comprehensive in its teaching of languages as there is a paid version for people to upgrade to from the free version (£9.99pm)
Babble is also used by millions of people worldwide as its gameified approach to teaching is a proven method of helping people learn a new language.
The app can be downloaded to a smartphone or used on a laptop or tablet.
CityLit is the organisation that published the research featured in this article.
With a huge number of language courses available, the company has helped thousands of people in developing their linguistic skills.
If you are serious about learning a new language, getting access to specialist teachers and resources is the best way forwards.
Italkie is another online resource for people wanting to learn a different language.
The platform connects thousands of people, from all over the world, via video calls and allows learners to connect with native speakers of the dialect they want to learn.
Even if you want to learn English as a non-native, this is a great way to connect with somebody who has training from the comfort of your own home.
Chris Jones, Director of Sales and Marketing at City Lit, said:
“Being able to speak a second language is always desirable to employers and has real social value too, so it’s great to see that being able to speak another language has a positive impact on salaries.
“Learning a second language is easier than you think, and there are lots of tips available to help you along your linguistic journey.”
Very interesting article..I will be downloading Duolingo and have a go at learning a second language
Great incentive to learn languages.