Why You Need a Foreign Language & How to Learn One: Online Version
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CHAPTER 1
Does an English-speaker really Need a Foreign Language?
A MISTAKEN PERCEPTION THAT LANGUAGES ARE ONLY FOR "LINGUISTS"
Japanese managers accept language skills as part of the “total package” that a modern professional should possess. I know Japanese managers who have learned English, Portuguese, Thai, and a host of other languages for business purposes. During the mid-1990s, I spent a great deal of time in Japanese-owned automotive plants throughout Mexico. Almost every Japanese manager I met was able to hold a conversation in Spanish.
Many American managers, however, believe that languages are too “artsy” for the hard-boiled world of factories and boardrooms. As one American manager whom I met expressed it, “If you exhibit foreign language skills, then you somehow get labeled a linguist rather than someone with business skills.”
I have taken international business classes at the graduate level, and I have yet to find a textbook that considers the proper role of language skills for a modern professional. Under the current orthodoxy, there is an assumption that English-speaking professionals must rely on the language skills of others.
LEARNING LANGUAGES IS HARD WORK
A foreign language is certainly not something that you can master overnight. Unless you are unusually gifted (or have nothing else to do but study languages), you will need to spend a number of years on the endeavor. The exact amount of time required will depend on the language you choose (more on this later), the time that you can devote to the effort, and your enthusiasm for the project.
In most cases, the part-time, self-directed learner can achieve basic competency in one or two years. More advanced competency arrives with one to three years of additional effort.
Although the above numbers add up to as many as four years, an important qualifier is in order. Do not discourage yourself by imagining the journey as a long, fruitless struggle, at the end of which you will acquire the golden fleece of fluency. Language acquisition is a gradual process---and there are lots of satisfying milestones along the way.
You will begin to have fun with your skills after just a few months of study. At first you will be limited to greetings. Then you will be able to carry on simple conversations. Over time, your conversations will grow more complex. Finally, it will be a matter of moving from proficiency in your new language to the status of a highly articulate speaker.
Some may balk at the idea of spending two to four years to reach their goals in a language. But this is simply the price you must pay to learn any worthwhile skill. It takes at least a couple of years to learn how to program a computer, or to perform advanced accounting operations, or to do just about anything for which someone will pay you. Once you do learn your language, you will then have a skill that will never become obsolete. Moreover, you will be pleasantly surprised to discover that your language skills can be successfully combined with the expertise and experience that you have in other areas.
Copyright 2005 Beechmont Crest Publishing
