Is it beneficial to work in your second language?

Working in another language can be awkward and challenging, but it has a surprising number of positive side effects.

José Luis Peñarredonda said that he recently spent four months working at the BBC in London, and English always sounded far smarter in his head than when it came out of his mouth. He often forgot words, made grammatical slips, and missed the usual precision of his native Spanish...

But there is a silver lining for those who are working in languages other than their native one. Research has recently shown that people who can speak a foreign language are likely to be more analytical. Other studies have suggested that people who are bilingual make decisions in different ways from those with one language.

It suggests that as well as giving you an extra string to your bow in terms of where you can work and who you can work with, a foreign language also makes you a different kind of worker. But the real question is – does it make you a better worker? Read more...

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