Companies want globally competent employees, including multilanguage competency.

I have worked successfully on four continents and frequently speak and write on global careers despite being fluent only in English. I first went overseas in the late 1990s as an executive when few American expats spoke foreign languages. Back then, my clients happily paid interpreters. Luckily, my skills also included the humility to seek out brilliant local colleagues, who became my eyes and ears in each market.

But the world has changed since then. Today many Americans work abroad, competing with global graduates proficient in three to four languages and ever-stronger emerging market talent pools. Companies want globally competent employees – including multilanguage competency. Few starting out today could succeed as I did speaking only English. Some could squeak by, but why set ourselves up for even partial failure? Research shows early language learning works best, and aids cognitive development beyond language arts. Why miss that window?

Language also matters for appreciating cultures, connecting and building relationships around the world. (Even a knowing a few polite phrases in many languages can change the tenor in a room.) Monolinguals conversing only with the English-fluent, or via machines, lose the important human touch and can’t learn or work as effectively as those chatting easily with native speakers, reading local papers, interpreting the subtleties.

Moreover, English dominance isn’t guaranteed. Far from fragmenting, Chinese language Web content is ballooning – and may soon surpass English content by volume. Arabic, Spanish and Portuguese are all unifying as globally popular Web sites and TV shows pull together dialects. As business globalizes, our colleagues, customers, owners and investors are increasingly overseas. More.

See: The New York Times