It has long been the assumption of English speakers that theirs is the language of international business so there is not much need to bother to master another tongue. But a recent study from a headhunter firm, Astbury Marsden, bluntly pointed out that UK bankers who travel to China, but who cannot or will not speak any Mandarin, will struggle to win Asian business.

It is a timely warning. While there have been a flurry of Western firms beating a path to the Asia-Pacific region looking for lucrative new business, not all of them might have given sufficient thought to mastering the local language.

In Singapore, English most definitely is a widely used language and speaking a different language is not as critical as it appears to be in Hong Kong or mainland China, at least if the Astbury Marsden findings are a guide.

But with competition for top banker jobs proving to be tough, any skills that a person can add to their resumes is bound to be useful, and languages definitely count for that.

There are now more than 1.4 million US dollar millionaires in China and it is a fair bet that many of them don’t speak English very well (although many will want to learn). So any language skills are going to give non-domestic bankers quite an edge, particularly when fostering a long-term relationship with people who might have good reasons to distrust bankers they don't know well. This is all the more the case given that, as far as mainland China is concerned, foreign firms already face a number of regulatory and other obstacles in getting business done.

The ability to speak Mandarin is not just important for bankers taking the Eastward trip to Asia. It also applies to those firms looking to tap into the influx of Chinese expats buying property and other assets in countries such as the UK. Besides Chinese high net worth individuals, those with linguistic talents should not ignore other nationalities: there is said to be quite an influx from France into the UK, so those who can master the Gallic tongue will again find they have an advantage in the battle for any business. And with Latin America's ascent as a prosperous region, there is Spanish and Portugese to consider. 

In my own case, I speak French adequately, can read and write basic German, can manage a few phrases in Maltese (my wife’s country) and as a student, underwent the torment of learning Latin. I don’t consider myself fluent in any foreign language and I have always admired and been shamed by those who are (such as my super-smart colleagues).

Mastering a foreign language spoken by people from fast-growing, increasingly affluent countries makes great sense. English may remain the world’s “language of business” for quite some time to come, but there’s no excuse for laziness.