Companies that learn the language of the countries they do business with will thrive in the future, making it easier to build trust relationships and helping them to understand how people think, according to Martin Hope, head of an EU project called 'Language Rich Europe'. He spoke to EurActiv in an interview.

...Also, the company thinks strategically about what languages they need for trade with companies in other countries. English is not enough because if you want to do business with Russia, for example, merely using English as a common language is not going to build a strong enough relationship. And the whole point about learning languages is not about transactions - it is about building relationships and understanding a different culture.

I know from my experience in Russia - which is my best language - that I could have never have built relationships and trust if I didn't speak the language.      

So the businesses that will thrive in the 21st and 22nd Centuries – the businesses that will do the best – will be the ones that learn the languages of the countries that they do business with... ..