Fluency in foreign tongues may increase your job options — and your pay. Interpreters and translators are among the top five fastest growing occupations

The rewards of learning other tongues are many: more potential friends, easier travel, and even, some studies suggest, better decision-making. But what about greater earnings potential?

Research from Wharton and LECG Europe found that studying a second language is correlated with about 2% more in annual income.

That’s a pretty low return, on the face of it—and probably not even as good as the minuscule raise your boss gave you this year. As study author Albert Saiz points out in a recent Freakonomics podcast, for someone making $30,000 annually, 2% amounts to only about $600 more per year. But Robert Lane Greene at The Economist shows that once you factor in compounding, a foreign language could mean nearly $70,000 more in savings by retirement. Put that way, it’s not too shabby.

Of course, broad correlations aren’t so helpful if you’re looking for a concrete pay bump in the real world. But there are many specific cases where a second (or third) language could increase your job opportunities and income.

For example, interpreters and translators are among the top fivefastest growing occupations, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, with opportunities expected to increase by 46% between 2012 and 2022. And for those who dream of being a real-life Jason Bourne, the C.I.A. loves polyglots. More.

See: TIME

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