Not too many years ago, you only needed to know one language to conduct business with just about everyone: English. Since the rise of new political superpowers and economic changes, that is no longer true. If you don’t know multiple languages, your company may not thrive the same way it did twenty years ago.

You might think that using a translator is good enough, but it is isn’t. A translator can’t handle technical terms and acronyms, or even jokes or slang. Until we have technology that’s advanced enough to translate the delicate intricacies of a language, it’s up to you and your firm to learn how to communicate with other people.

Here are a few languages you should know:

Spanish

There are over 35 million Spanish speakers in the US alone; worldwide, the number tops 420 million. Spanish is considerably easy to learn compared to other languages, and chances are you already know a few words, whether because you associated with people who spoke it when you were younger, or because you took a Spanish class in high school.

Mandarin Chinese

China has dominated the world market for several years now, and it’s likely that business between the US and China will only continue to increase. There are two different types of Chinese – Mandarin and Cantonese – but Mandarin is the official version. Considering over one billion people speak some form of Chinese, you may want to start taking lessons now.

Russian

There are more billionaires in Moscow than there are in any other place in the world. Russia is rich in many commodities, such as oil and coal, that are only becoming more and more valuable. Russian can be harder to learn than other languages, because the language is based on the Cyrillic alphabet. But look at the bright side – if you can speak Russian, you’ll be way ahead of the curve when it comes to making deals.

One alternative to learning the languages yourself is just to hire someone who knows both languages, but it’s cheaper and more interesting to learn them yourself if you can. Even picking up one additional language can make the difference between making a sale and not.