Linkwiz guides
Show which languages you speak on LinkedIn.
Help customers and colleagues see which languages you can use. Include basic skills honestly, and choose a proficiency level for each language.
A visitor should not have to guess which language to use when contacting you. List the languages you speak, including English when you use it, and describe your current ability accurately.
Make the language and your level easy to find.
The Languages section gives each language its own entry. Someone looking at this profile can see which languages suit a business conversation and which are still being learned.
Belle Beaumont · Account executive at Walt
Languages
The people, company and profile details in these examples are fictional.
Include the languages you speak, even at a basic level.
You do not need to be fluent to include a language. A beginner can list it with an elementary level. Include English if you can use it, even when it feels obvious to you. Let your stated ability speak for itself rather than leaving visitors to infer it from your name or location.
Choose a level that reflects what you can do
Use the proficiency labels available in LinkedIn. The examples below are a practical way to think about your ability, not a formal assessment.
Compare the five proficiency levels
- Elementary proficiency: you can manage basic introductions and simple exchanges.
- Limited working proficiency: you can handle some routine work conversations, with help when they become complex.
- Professional working proficiency: you can participate in the work conversations your role requires.
- Full professional proficiency: you can work confidently through complex discussions and professional writing.
- Native or bilingual proficiency: you use the language at a native or comparable bilingual level.
Think about calls, meetings and writing, rather than choosing a level only because you can read a short message. Update it when your ability changes.
Add supporting evidence when it is useful
If you learn with Duolingo, you can link your Duolingo Score to your LinkedIn profile. Use it as additional context for your language learning. Duolingo explains the LinkedIn integration.
If you have earned a language qualification, add its exact name, issuing organization and relevant credential details in Licenses & certifications. Do not describe app learning progress as an exam qualification.
Keep spoken languages separate from translated profiles
Languages describes what you can speak or understand. A profile in another language gives visitors another version of your profile text. If you regularly work with a different language audience, consider both. LinkedIn currently lets you create another language profile on desktop, rather than in the mobile app. See the other language profile options.
Help customers find someone who speaks their language.
Invite employees who work across markets to review their Languages section. Sales can make prospect conversations easier to arrange. Customer success can show the languages used for onboarding and support. Marketing can show who is comfortable working with a local audience.
Share examples of honest proficiency labels and let each employee choose their own level. Keep an internal record separately if you need to assign customers by language. This guide is a manual profile review; it does not add a Languages score to Linkwiz’s 19 checks.
Ready to update it?
Where to add languages in LinkedIn
On desktop
Open your profile and use Add profile section, Additional and Languages. Add a language and choose the proficiency that reflects your ability. For an existing entry, edit it in the Languages section. Save your changes.
In the mobile app
Open your profile and use Add section, Additional and Languages. Add the language and your proficiency, then save. You can edit an existing entry in the Languages section.
A profile in another language is a separate option under Profile language on desktop. It does not replace the Languages section.
Before you move on
- Every language you speak is included at an honest level.
- English is listed if you use it.
- Any score or qualification is described accurately.