Honor Multilingual Women on International Women's Day

In honor of International Women’s Day, I am emphasizing why women need to be multilingual. I recorded a call with three female polyglots Fasulye, Jana Fadness and myself, Susanna Zaraysky, to discuss how to motivate more girls and women to learn foreign languages and show their foreign language skills publicly for International Women's Day 2012.

I am passionate about motivating people to learn foreign languages using music and the media. My seven languages have given me jobs, travel experiences and friendships I would otherwise not have had if I only knew English.

There's a multiplier effect for everyone when women speak foreign languages. 

If a multilingual woman has children (both male and female), they are more likely to speak another language than if only their father is a polyglot. In general, mothers spend more time educating their children than fathers do.  

For those of you who grew up in a monolingual family and are learning a language as an adult, don’t you wish your mom had sung you lullabies in a foreign language and taught you the sounds early-on so that you wouldn’t have to struggle with them as an adult, especially the rolled “r” in Spanish that so many English speakers fail to pronounce correctly? 

What are both men and women concerned with during our recession? Having a job. It’s easier to find a job if you have language skills.

Probably the most famous multilingual woman was Cleopatra. Although Hollywood shows her as a seductress to Mark Anthony and Julius Caesar, she was a multilingual powerhouse. Cleopatra spoke nine languages, (Egyptian, Greek, Latin, Syrian, Arabic, Persian, Aramaic, Hebrew, and Troglodyte) which she used to to rule over Egypt.  

Madeleine Albright was the first female Secretary of State in the US. She speaks at least five languages. She would not have been taken as seriously as the first female Secretary of State if she were not so well versed in foreign languages, unlike some of her male predecessors who had no language skills.

In the spirit of today’s celebration of women, please congratulate the women in your life who speak another language and who are actively promoting multilingualism.