How to Leverage Multilingual Skills in the Workplace
Multilingualism is Your Hidden Superpower
Welcome to The Inclusion Room —a space where literature, art, science, and storytelling meet to unlock the power of diversity, inspiring both personal and professional growth.
Today, let’s dive into multilingualism as a true superpower. Together, we’ll explore why recruiters and managers should actively seek out candidates with this incredible skill. Relax and enjoy your reading!
Tower of Babel - M.C. Escher
On the first day of my doctorate in France, I faced an embarrassing unexpected situation. As I typed the keywords for my research, the words that appeared on the screen were an incomprehensible sequence of letters, like “auqntu, physics.” A bit awkward considering that quantum physics was the central theme of my research.
After erasing and rewriting, this time paying attention to the keys, I realized that the A had replaced the Q, the Z had taken the place of the W, and the M was not in its normal position!
I was using my first AZERTY keyboard, a layout used only in French-speaking countries.
A little historical note: the use of the QWERTY keyboard dates back to 1870s when Christopher Latam Sholes patented the first typewriter, later sold by Remington and Sons, with a key arrangement that separated the most commonly used letters in English, reducing the chances of the levers sticking. Subsequently, AZERTY emerged more obscurely as a Francophone exception.
This initial encounter with my new context was also one of the first acts of inclusion that I experienced.
A few days later, my supervisor arrived at my office with a package. Without me needing to say anything, he recognized the difficulty of writing a thesis in English with an AZERTY keyboard and provided me with a computer equipped with the QWERTY keyboard I was accustomed to, at least until I felt ready to switch to the AZERTY.
This small misadventure highlighted not only linguistic differences but also the need to adapt to new situations. Today, about 17 years later, I write from a QWERTY keyboard on weekends and evenings, just as I am now, while during the 9 to 5, I perfectly use an AZERTY keyboard.
Like many of you, I appreciate the “space” key on my Android that allows me to change languages with a simple thumb gesture. Thanks to this “tactile” keyboard, I can effortlessly switch from one language to another, which today compose the mosaic of my identity.
“Mosaic” is a word that resonates with me because it corresponds to the image of the various aspects that make up my identity today. Like pieces of different materials and colours glued together to create a unique piece of art, in the mosaic of my identity, every component represents a nuance of my life: my origins, passions, challenges, experiences. The combination of all these tiles creates a dynamic image that continues to evolve over time.
For those who, like me, have lived in different countries and interacted with diverse cultures, multilingualism adds colourful tiles to the identity mosaic. Various studies1 have shown that each language represents not only a channel of communication but, above all, a way of thinking and seeing the world.
For example, genders vary across languages. “Bridge” is masculine in Spanish or Italian but feminine in German. If you ask Germans to describe bridges, they will use more, stereotypically feminine words, like “elegant“; in Italian or Spanish, they will use words with a more masculine connotation, like “robust.” Genders apply to everything we name, thus influencing our entire reality and how we perceive it.
In English, one would say, “you broke the vase,” while in Spanish, the vase “is broken.” This emphasizes potentially two different viewpoints on the same event: who did it and how.
Some languages are read from left to right, while others from right to left, implying a different perception of the passage of time. Lera Boroditsky | TED
Have you ever considered how speaking German helps develop active listening, having to wait for the verb at the end? 💡
The richness of linguistic diversity and the ability to switch between linguistic systems demonstrate flexibility and adaptability but also provide a window into an alternative universe. Imagine having a team composed of people who speak different languages solving a problem together. The possibilities that arise are endless, and the creativity that can emerge is immense.
For bilingual individuals, emotions may appear less vivid in their second language compared to their mother tongue. In this sense, thinking in the second language during decision-making implies a more thoughtful and rational choice, based on considerations less connected to emotions.
Marguerite Yourcenar fascinatingly depicts the complexity of Adriano's bilingual identity2:
"I governed the empire in Latin; my epitaph will be inscribed in Latin on the walls of my mausoleum by the Tiber; but in Greek, I have thought, in Greek, I have lived."
The distinction between Latin, used for power and administration, and Greek, chosen for contemplation and intimacy, underscores how languages profoundly influence our perception of the world and constitute facets of our personality, serving as resources to be utilized according to context.
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In an increasingly competitive industrial context, attracting talent represents a real challenge for human resources globally. Excluding a pool of multilingual candidates simply because they do not speak the local language fluently is a strategic mistake.
Is it easier to learn a new language or acquire rare skills and unique soft skills honed through years of experience? How beneficial could it be for the company and the team to integrate a different worldview?
Takeaways:
🌍 Value your multilingualism in your skill set as a sign of flexibility and adaptability!
💪 Multilingualism is your superpower: your mother tongue, even if spoken only in your community, is the deep connection to your emotions. The new language, including the accent, sometimes uncertain syntax, and challenging word genders, is your bridge to the world and its infinite connections. 🤝
👥 Managers: hiring multilingual people means building agile teams ready to make solid and informed decisions! 🚀
🧠 Cognitive versatility: multilingual individuals develop a unique mental flexibility that allows them to switch from one context to another with ease. This ability to “think in different languages” makes them more creative and capable of solving complex problems innovatively. 🔍💡
And you, dear readers, what languages do you speak, and how do they enrich your identity mosaic?
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How language shapes the way we think | Lera Boroditsky
Memoirs of Hadrian by Margherite Yourcenar
I can totally relate to this - I use English for business, planning, organising whilst my mother tongue is for deep emotional connection.
The different thinking of bilingual/multilingual people is such an amazing asset for companies.
This was such as interesting read! I loved the part "For bilingual individuals, emotions may appear less vivid in their second language compared to their mother tongue. In this sense, thinking in the second language during decision-making implies a more thoughtful and rational choice, based on considerations less connected to emotions." --> It explains something I always suspected about how I feel speaking English (my 2nd language, which, by the way, I love no matter what) vs, my first language, Italian. Very interesting!