Not AI engineering. In America, one new skill can help you land a $150,000-a-year job, says survey

Learning a foreign language can indeed make all the difference, at least when it comes to making sound business decisions. Yes, you read that right! Mastering another language can not just make you wise and erudite; it also increases your chance to acquire more wealth.

A 2012 study conducted by researchers at the University of Chicago found that people who learn a foreign language are more likely to make rational economic decisions and also likely to take calculated, favourable risks.

“We know from previous research that because people are naturally loss-averse, they often forgo attractive opportunities,” said UChicago psychologist Boaz Keysar. This loss averseness becomes much less pronounced in those who have learned a foreign language and are fluent enough to use it in day-to-day making economic decisions.

Learning A Second Language Breaks Down Reservations

The researchers tested a group of native English speakers who were fluent in Spanish to see how scared they were of potential loss when they made decisions.

$15 in dollar bills were given to each participant, who took $1 for each wager. If they were to win a coin flip, they could either keep the dollar or risk it in exchange for an additional $1.50. They may therefore receive $2.50 if they win the toss in each round, or nothing if they lose. The students stood to win statistically if they took all 15 bets, which made the bets appealing.

Only 54% of the students who thought about the English problem took the wager because they were afraid of losing. Students who conducted the experiment in Spanish, on the other hand, won the wager 71% of the time.

The Science Behind How Learning A New Language Improves Decision-Making

One of the researchers, Sayuri Hayakawa, explained that a foreign language has less “emotional resonance than a native tongue", so that makes people who have mastered another language more likely to make informed risks regarding finances.

Learning and being comfortable communicating in another language enough to use it in business decisions would potentially benefit entrepreneurs and investors, as it would make them less biased and less myopic and averse to risk.

Does Learning A New Language Really Make You Wealthier?

While there’s no guarantee that mastering a new language will put you in the top percentile net worth-wise, there’s a good chance you can earn a bit more than average. According to a study conducted by Albert Saiz, the Daniel Rose Professor of Urban Economics and Real Estate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, college graduates who speak two languages earn 2% more on average than those who do not.

As explained by an article in The Economist, this can mount up to a lot over time. The additional income might result in an extra $67,000 in your retirement account when you retire! However, Prof. Saiz also maintained your earning capacity would depend on what foreign language you have mastered, as not all languages are in demand.

Is There A ‘Language Of Wealth’?

There is, if a 2022 article published by Forbes is to be believed. Citing the results of a survey conducted by Preply, an online learning platform, Forbes claimed that German is the highest paid foreign language in the United States, with an average annual income of $69,898, according to Preply's analysis of earnings across the country. Daniele Saccardi, campaigns manager for Preply told the magazine, "German has surpassed French as one of the most popular languages to study, and it's not surprising that German comes on top of our lists, not only in America but also in the UK and Europe."

Portuguese ($64,507.46) comes in second, followed by Japanese ($58,840.25). The top ten most lucrative foreign languages in the US are Italian, Mandarin, French, Spanish, Bengali, Arabic, Hindi, Urdu, and Punjabi.

That is just the average salary of learning German and Portuguese in the USA. As per the survey, in cities such as Chicago, Boston and San Francisco, German-speaking jobs can pay employees anything from $124,897 to $144,880 per year (Mind you, we are only speaking of average salaries in these cities, so a seven-figure salary is not impossible for those who have true command in the language). And in cities like NYC, people who are fluent in Portuguese can earn a whopping $263,781 (on average) per year!

So, if you dream of earning big bucks, mastering a new language can definitely increase your chances of landing a high-paying job!