Even if it is a big challenge, speaking a second language will be one of the best investments you will make in your personal and professional life.
Many people postpone learning new languages as much as possible, as they use as an excuse that learning other languages is extremely hard work and takes a long time.
I agree with the points of time and is expensive, but like everything in life, our biggest investments (and returns) take time and with languages, this is no different.
In an increasingly globalized world, mainly in the technology sector (and increasingly in other sectors), we operate in companies with people from all over the world.
How to communicate in such an environment?
In fact, the question is not how to communicate, but how to communicate effectively? (There is no use in precarious communication that creates doubts and problems in the workplace).
To exemplify, let’s think about the environment of a global SAP project.
Our fictional company is a large technology company based in Germany.
This company has branches on all continents, and, after much planning, decided to carry out a global project to implement a standard SAP Template in all companies, that is, to standardize business processes to the maximum in the same SAP environment.
Challenging, isn’t it?
Certainly.
The structure of the project had a global team (mostly of German origin), where they were the “guardians” of the Template, that is, they were responsible for the Template to have the least possible changes in each country where it was implemented.
In each country where the project took place, new consultants were hired on a temporary basis, mainly to help with legal requirements and also for better communication between users (branch employees) and the global team, as not everyone spoke English. / German and that could be a big problem for the smooth running of the project.
Some of these consultants stood out a lot, as they spoke German and English very well, in addition to being great professionals.
These consultants drew the attention of the global team and, with a certain frequency, they were invited to continue on the project even after the completion of the implementation in their country.
This meant that they could travel with the global team to other countries to continue implementing the Template.
Here we begin to see the importance of the language (second and third languages in this case).
When the global project reaches a country like Brazil for example, which is one of the most complex countries in the world in legal and tax matters, more consultants are added to the team, to work together with this great team in the implementation of the Template.
Luckily for you, you have a good level of English (but don’t say a word in German) and are hired for the project.
It is the first time that you have worked on such a project.
During the course of the project, you start to notice the number of problems that happen because of poor communication between the local business, the local consultants, and the global team, mainly due to the different language.
At that moment you have great insight and notice how much better your life can be if you improve your English level and learn new languages.
From there you decide that you will improve your English and begin to study a new language, since you are located in Latin America, in addition to English you judge Spanish as a language that can also open up new possibilities for you.
This little story that I narrated has already happened to me and several friends of mine in many projects over the past few years and what I decided on was precisely investing heavily in this area.
The second language in my opinion will always be English, as practically all global projects use English as a second language.
But choosing a third language may be more in line with your professional and personal goals.
If you work on many projects in Latin America, Spanish will be a wise choice.
If your performance was in Europe or you intend to move to Germany, German may be a good choice.
This is a personal decision and one that should be taken with caution, as learning a new language is not easy and takes a long time (to reach a really good level).
The important thing is to start as soon as possible, as we all know that in this SAP area, the least we have is time and, therefore, we must use it in the most intelligent way possible.
How to begin?
Regardless of your level of a second or third language, don’t despair.
In my view, the most important thing is for you to plan.
Nowadays it is much cheaper to learn a new language, mainly because of online classes.
There are great sites where you can hire private tutors for individual classes (in my opinion it is the best cost/benefit), and even though it is a little bit higher than group classes, your learning time will be less and you will have more free time to devote to other activities.
Of course, in addition to classes, you will have to study alone it is important to study a certain amount of hours per week of the new language.
In fact, to learn faster, you can try to participate in projects where you can practice the language at work.
Using the language at work will make you learn incredibly fast.
Conclusion
Finally, I want to promise you that you will NEVER regret learning a new language. You will receive opportunities that you have no idea about today, but that can transform your professional and financial life.
Studying never hurts.
If you have any suggestions (including subjects you would like to read about), feel free to send an email to sapsteps@sapsteps.com.
A big hug,
Bruno César
