Is Only Speaking English Good Enough?

by Gabriel Gonzalez 

April 2011

After receiving my bachelor's degree in May 2003, I started off at a diversified financial services firm whose primary operations only involved English. I, not only being bilingual, but also growing up from Puerto Rican parents, never realized the value knowing Spanish.

While I was working in South Florida, and I certainly was not the only one who knew both languages, I was the only person in my department capable of speaking Spanish fluently.

While I worked in the financial services industry, I had always kept in the back of my mind to get my MBA. When it finally came time to pursue my degree, I had a conversation with a friend of mine about the importance of other languages in business.

At this point, I had grown up learning English and Spanish, primary English, but had learned Spanish grammar during high school. My friend argued that English is good enough, claiming that, everyone has to learn English for business purposes.

People could laugh at my friend's simplicity, but realistically, most people in the U.S. have never had the need to learn a second language. Unless people live in South Florida (and even though, strictly in Miami and its close suburbs), certain parts of Texas, or Southern California, nothing will be lost by speaking only English.

While this exists in many countries not just by the general population but even by its leaders, most people should understand that knowing more than one language will do more for people not just on a personal level, but also on a business level as well.

I know that while I was working in financial services, knowing Spanish helped me for several reasons.

Our Brokers

Our firm went through a series of mergers and acquisitions that had us conducting business in more than one language. While the official business of the firm was English, I was able to bond more with our new brokers because of the fact I not only knew Spanish but also knew a bit about the culture as well.

Dealing with Other Firms

As a result of dealing with brokers conducting business internationally, it was also necessary to deal with other firms who had a clearing agent that did not have an excellent grasp of English. While it would have been possible to get someone else on the phone that had a better grasp of the language, it made the operations of my firm easier to conduct because I knew Spanish.

People who Don't Speak Spanish

I have seen arguments that the primary language of business should be Spanish, and not English. While I think this is a rather strong argument, I think that it holds some merit.