English has long changed its status from a second language to a tool of global communication. It is not just a medium of communication; it is more of a life skill. Candidates looking for jobs in sunrise sectors like IT, hospitality, retail, and academia are expected to communicate well in English. Those already employed in any other industry already know its importance.

The Covid-19 pandemic and the resultant change in the world of work means the importance of English, as a medium of communication, will only increase. The pandemic has propelled concepts like remote work and online learning, and businesses will soon realize they can tap into a global pool of talent instead of just local ones. With this, English is bound to grow into an international language as the willingness to hire across borders will increase, provided new talents can communicate well. The need of the job market is to have a workforce proficient in modern communication, interpersonal skills, and multicultural awareness. Having command over English empowers both job seekers and those already employed to have better prospects of earning more.

The ability to speak well in English not only transforms the confidence of young men and women across the globe but also turns them into global citizens, providing them with opportunities that would not usually happen as monolingual speakers.

Face-to-face lessons are now coming back after a long period of remote studies. We now face two significant challenges:

1) Increase interaction among students and teacher/students.
As much as students and faculty have gained experience with learning technology, many students have not learned everything that the curricula stipulated. From now on, these guidelines need to gain layers that deal with socio-emotional skills and promote the students’ autonomy concerning studies.

2) Provide real-life context
Courses rely on methodologies, and there is nothing wrong with that, quite the contrary. Nonetheless, and despite the efforts to offer students real-life context where the language is used outside de educational field, many still lack the “day to day” jargons, expressions, and even slang.

Will learning a second language remain online? Will it eventually change to a hybrid environment? Too soon to tell.