Daily Express
January 20 2005

Student’s second language could prove a nice little earner
By Andrea Watson

CAREER success is usually down to a cocktail of skills, of which communication is king. And one of the best ways to improve your verbal and non-verbal talents is to learn a foreign language as Oxford undergraduate, Tom Stubbs, knows from experience. Tom has just returned from Spain where he spent a week at the Enforex language school in Barcelona after winning an Express Careers prize draw.
The all-expenses paid trip was organised by language holiday specialists Cactus Worldwide. Yorkshire-born Tom decided to study languages because of the unique potential they give to mix with other people. He said: “I wanted to be able to communicate to a greater extent with people from different communities and cultures.” Tom, who is in his first year at university, spent the week with a local family where he heard Spanish spoken all the time. “Total immersion makes you start thinking in another language which is one of the key things, “ he said. Staff at Brighton-based Cactus speak 11 languages and have travelled to more than 60 countries worldwide to select schools and accommodation for clients. All holidays are tailor-made and the company’s clients range in age from six years old to more than 75. For information visit www.cactuslanguage.com LEARNING a second language makes you richer and sexier, according to a new report. Rich List author Phillip Beresford found that polyglots:
· Are more likely to be hired by the majority of UK firms.
· Earn on average £3,000 a year more, or £9,000 extra in the case of higher earners.
· Are in short supply in nine out of 10 UK companies.
· Are seen as more sexy, intelligent and interesting.
Beresford surveyed HR managers of 2,700 companies in 10 industry sectors for the Michel Thomas Language Centre. He said that British firms miss out on £750 million every year because staff lack the skills to communicate effectively with overseas companies. Sectors where language skills are important are media, sales and marketing. The most common languages used in UK businesses are French, German, Spanish and Italian. Michel Thomas opened his first language centre in Beverly Hills. His clients have included Doris Day, Woody Allen, Barbra Streisand and Emma Thompson.