Globalisation has offered companies that have scattered teams the chance to grow or expand their business internationally, as well as access the top talent in any location. Do you think it’s time that for the C-suite to embrace language learning?
Today, collaboration is not impeded by the borders. The world of work has become more global With the most talented people working remote from any part of the globe.
If language barriers are present between suppliers, employees, and contractors, a lot of companies might face new challenges. Chances can get thwarted and prevent them from launching to new markets, expanding suppliers’ networks, discovering efficient manufacturing techniques that are cost effective or recruiting new workers to their team distributed.
When you take a look at the typical listing of benefits offered to employees as well as incentives which consist of gym memberships or lunch vouchers as well as the ability to borrow money to purchase season tickets for trains. The C-suite is waking up to the possibility of adding languages to benefit packages for employees as well as expanding their personal horizons and allowing for possibilities for professional growth.
Mait Muntel, co-founder and CEO of Lingvist, an AI-driven platform for language learning Lingvist believes that empowering colleagues to be more effective in communicating between them, regardless of the location they’re located can significantly improve profitability and productivity.
“Having a little bit more language fluency removes a lot of friction,” Muntel says. Muntel. “It’s essential when you’re working in a team. This helps to eliminate friction inside the business, but it also reduces friction on the marketplace. If one does not know the correct language, they may seem rude. The way people conduct themselves can have a major impact on the revenue.”
The author adds: “If a company’s employees can speak another language, even in very basic terms, this can foster better working relationships and friendships.”
Utilizing targeted instruction
Muntel advocate for a unique method of enhancing language proficiency. Instead of introducing a broad collection of phrases and words, Lingvist harnesses artificial intelligence and machine learning in order to focus on specific vocabulary that is required to perform a particular job or field. Businesses or other partners may make available documents, reports whitepapers, manuals as well as other printed materials that explain the process and how they perform it. This platform can then process the materials to produce bespoke lessons that incorporate the most efficient languages.
To reach the level of conversation could require a lot of time for those who studied French, Spanish, or German at school. What’s taught to adolescents covers different scenarios, such as holiday celebrations, a conversation about the weather, and directions to local libraries. The Muntel technology focuses on an automated approach for professional conversation, providing people with specifically the communication skills they require in just a couple of months.
“The way we teach languages is extraordinarily fast because our lessons are highly personalised,” the professor states. “We make use of sophisticated algorithms which help to make learning easier and faster. The aim of creating this technology was to teach languages over months instead of years, and also to allow them to be accessible to all.”
The app, initially launched as a direct-to-consumer service, is now home to more than six million downloads of apps through Apple’s App Store as well as Google Play. Every language is a collection of pairs, such as, English to German, English to Estonian as well as English in Russian. Muntel refers to the process in terms of “a journey from one language to another.”
The brain is comfortable
Different fields use distinct – and frequently specific words and phrases. The prospect of learning a new language for work purpose can be an intimidating possibility for many who are interested in learning due to the abundance of buzzwords and jargon. However, machine learning helps ease this worry. It scans the web as well as news sites and all documents available to find useful information in a short time. AI can also address the need that individuals learn according to their own speed by observing how they behave to adapt a program according to their preferences, habits as well as the circumstances.
For the greatest benefit of everybody, learning should be at a pace that the brain can be comfortable with Muntel says. Muntel. He says: “I struggled with languages during my school years. I estimated that it took me a total of 10,000 hours to master English. Then, I started to wonder if the conventional approach was correct as well as if I was getting the correct information.”
While working as an postdoctoral researcher at CERN in Switzerland in which he was involved in the Higgs boson team that discovered the Higgs boson, Muntel was struggling to learn the language of his home country while also juggling an intense workload. He came up with an mathematical model to demonstrate the possibility of learning a new language in only 200 hours is possible.
“Some words are just a million times more frequent,” the author declares. “Statistically We look at the things you require to know as a student. Retail companies have one vocabulary, while the football team has a different set. This is different in the fields of transportation, medicine or law. With the help of artificial intelligence and delineating fields of interest using your own text, books, or keywords, computers can discover other words that are similar to those within similar fields. The process is quite quick.”
Contributing to the value of the collective
One thing Muntel observed while working in CERN was that, while scientists were able to work in English but their spouses as well as children were often left out when they moved to a different location without any words or words to successfully integrate into their new home. The company can utilize new techniques of learning through digital technologies to help family members of employees settle in upon their transfer into a different nation.
While Lingvist is presently geared towards intermediate users who are looking to improve their proficiency in the language fast, the company plans to expand its platform toward beginners by the end of this year.
Age shouldn’t be a barrier, Muntel insists, especially in the context of a drive for the inclusion of over-50s in the UK work force following the collapse of Covid. The data from Lingvist shows that although the older generation is often told that they’re not able to master different languages as quickly than younger ones but this isn’t always the reality. According to Muntel every learning a new language provides new opportunities for growth both professionally and personally. “When individuals who speak English acquire the language spoken in their main markets, they’re better respected and valued. Even a small amount of knowledge is going to make your work easier,” he says.
Due to the current advances in technological advances in natural language processing Muntel thinks there are no limits to what is possible: “In English, there could be as many as a million words. If you’re a conversationalist it is possible to need 3000. In the workplace, you’ll require 1000 or maybe 2000 words of professional vocabulary over the standard words. This isn’t a lot in the event that technology can find the terms you’re required to study.”
With the growing number of workers multi-national, the language of learning is an avenue to collaboration across borders with new markets, and opens up new perspectives. Technology is here for it to be accessible to everyone.
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