English is the official language of the business world, according to an article released last May by Harvard Business Review.

The same article reported that 1.75 billion people worldwide (about one in four) speak English on some level.

Some Americans hear these statistics and become complacent by thinking English is the only important language, said Dillon Green, a UNA senior double majoring in French and Spanish.

“We’re not forced to learn another language in America,” he said. “You can go from Maine to California and be just fine speaking only English.”

Claudia Vance, chair of the department of foreign languages at UNA, said that, while English has been the global language of business for several decades, it is not (and probably will never be) the official language outside of business.

In fact, the most widely spoken language in the world is not English but Chinese, she said.

For this reason, it is imperative that English speakers take the time to learn a second language, she said.

“Think about how much more valuable your business transactions would be if you meet halfway instead of forcing (others) to speak your language,” Vance said. “That bridging the gap is as important as anything when you do business.”

Jinsol Kim, an exchange student at UNA from South Korea, has been learning to speak English since age 7, in addition to speaking Korean and Japanese.

She said a basic requirement for a job in Korea is the ability to read and write English.

“Koreans are crazy about learning English,” she said. “When I go back to Korea, they will envy that I can communicate with Americans.”

Kim recalled a time while attending church in the Florence area when she heard an American recite scripture in Korean. That was the first time she had heard an American speaking her language.

“I’m so thankful for him,” she said.

Students at UNA also see personal advantages to learning another language.

Green said that by learning French and Spanish, he has become more open-minded — not just about other cultures but also about his own capabilities.

“When I’m speaking another language, I feel like another me,” he said. “There’s a French me and a Spanish me and an English me, and who I am now is a sum of those parts.

“If you speak another language, it’s another way of thinking.”

The foreign language department at UNA offers French, German and Spanish as major or minor options. In addition, courses are available by demand in critical languages such as Japanese, Arabic, Swahili and Portuguese, among others.

The language in highest demand in America right now is Spanish, Vance said.

“I think that, in this side of the hemisphere, we have a lot of trade that goes on with Latin America,” she said. “That’s a major factor. Also, (America has) a large population of Hispanics. For that reason, many people see it as a value to learn that language in order to open up another market that they could tap into.”

Vance said picking a language to learn is a matter of personal preference, but students should first know how they plan to use the language they choose.

“I can’t see any field where it wouldn’t be an advantage to have another language,” Vance said. “No one can escape the fact that we are one big global community.”