In an increasingly globalised world where English is more or less the undisputed international language of business, what place is there for multilingualism? Several global companies believe that foreign languages, specifically German, play an important role in helping employees integrate into today’s multicultural workplace.
The software giant SAP, which has its headquarters in Walldorf, is one such company. Though it conducts its business meetings, telephone conversations and written correspondence in English, it firmly believes that diversity plays a big part in creativity, innovation and progress. That’s why it invests strongly in German lessons for its foreign employees and, in some cases, their families. It’s all part of an ethos which holds that employees who learn German are more content and well-adjusted and work better. It’s not a unique view either; Siemens is another global player investing in German lessons for its staff through e-learning and targeted German lessons.
There can be little doubt that mutual knowledge of a language apart from English promotes better integration and understanding between colleagues and business associates, wherever they are based in the world. German, the most spoken native language in Western Europe, retains its place as an important language of business and politics. It is undoubtedly the foreign language of choice for those who subscribe to this philosophy. If you’re one of them, you may wish to see what our corporate German lessons can offer you and your employees.
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