From Social Circles to Career Goals: Why English Is Your Superpower

In the modern world English skills can open doors in all areas of your life- friendships, job opportunities, travel experiences and more. While tests can make you believe that English is all about grammar, it’s actually a superpower that can help you connect with people, grow your career, and shape your future. Here’s why.

Think about the people you meet online and offline. Social media, gaming communities and travel groups are dominated by people who speak English. Even if you’re speaking to someone from Japan, Mexico or Germany, chances are you’ll use English to communicate.

Why does this matter? Because friendships are built around communication. Global friendships are just one of the many benefits of learning English. Imagine being able to join international group chats, travel to new countries and build a global network of friends to travel around the world with. English is your bridge to those connections.

Another advantage of learning English is that you get to explore more entertainment and culture. Hollywood dominates the global film market, with brands like Disney being known around the globe. But without English, it can be difficult to understand the nuances of movies.

When you master English, you’ll discover new cultural references, humor, idioms and more, improving your movie experience while building language skills that support your social interactions, career and creativity.

English is a fantastic way to open new education opportunities. Many of the world’s top universities including Oxford, Harvard, MIT and Cambridge all teach in English. Furthermore, many academic journals, online courses and research papers are first published in English and then translated.

If you’re looking to study at a university level English could unlock thousands of new opportunities to study abroad in the US, Europe, UK, Australia, and more.

Here’s where your “superpower” really shows. Employers around the world often look for English skills. And not just multinational companies. Smaller, local businesses now operate in the global economy, which spans finance, marketing, hospitality, tech and more.

A 2023 study by Pearson discovered that employees who are fluent in English can earn up to 80% more than their counterparts who don’t. Speaking English also opens up opportunities for remote work and freelancing, with some of the best paying clients operating internationally.

Ever heard the saying, “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know”? Networking plays a crucial role in the job market. From LinkedIn to conferences and in-house meetings, your English skills can help you build your personal network.

English is important as it can help you to build connections with new people such as investors, international partners and mentors. Without English, you could be locked out of such conversations.

Here’s a hidden benefit people often overlook: English can give you a massive confidence boost. While it’s always daunting going to a new country, knowing that you can speak the language will give you the confidence boost you need to thrive.

This confidence can snowball. When you experience talking to people from different cultures you stop doubting yourself. Instead, you feel better about your skills, more capable and more willing to put yourself out there. And the more you put yourself out there, the more opportunities come your way.

Learning English is a fantastic way to build your confidence, meet new people and unlock new opportunities. And here’s the best part: you don’t need to be “perfect.”

Like any language, you’re not going to learn everything in textbooks. You need to immerse yourself in local cultures, meet new people, and experience new places. Will you make mistakes? Of course! But mistakes are part of the fun.

With the digital economy taking the world global there’s never been a better time to learn English. English can do more than just support your career. It can become your superpower that transforms small circles into global networks, classroom learning into career breakthroughs, and self-doubt into confidence.

So the question is simple: will you treat English as just another subject, or will you wield it as the superpower it truly is?