UTV business report on the future benefits of learning Arabic at B.R.A.



“There is a growing demand for major world languages such as Arabic, Chinese, Hindi, Japanese and Russian … Education systems and institutions need to diversify their offerings.”

This report from the European Commission underlines the importance of new and diverse language learning. We already know that Arabic will rank in second place of important languages for business after Spanish and before French and Chinese over the next 15 years.

At Belfast Royal Academy we are preparing pupils for the golden opportunities that will arise in local business due to shifts in global supply and demand. Northern Ireland companies are well placed to take advantage of business opportunities in the Arab world. However, they will need language skills for optimising sales in these emergent markets.

Even now Northern Ireland is supplying a wide range of food and drink including premium beef, porridge oats, eggs, gluten-free biscuits, traditional Irish breads and confectionery, organic salmon and other seafood, and even mashed potatoes to countries such as United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait where Arabic is and will continue to be the lingua franca.