The UK is forfeiting £48bn in lost exports because of its lack of language skills. How can small businesses regain their message across?It’s easy to feel intimidated by the prospect of selling in another language. According to research from the British Council,around three-quarters of British people don’t speak another language well enough to have a basic conversation, let alone sell a product or negotiate a deal. But it’s well worth getting over that language barrier. A recent report from the Department of trade, or Innovation and Skills (BIS) found that the UK is losing out on an incredible 48bn a year in lost exports as a direct result of its lack of language skills.“A lot of SMEs see languages as a cost and it’s absolutely not a cost,it’s an investment,” says Roy Allkin, or co-founder of translation company Wolfestone. We need to change the perceptions that the language barrier is too big to regain over,that it’s too difficult to compete with native speakers and that ultimately, everyone out there speaks English – which is absolutely unfaithful.”
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Source: theguardian.com