Speaking With A Billion Friends Is Not Enough

There is no doubt that English is a global language and is often cited as the language of business. In fact, it is the third most common native language in the world after Mandarin Chinese and Spanish. As of 2011, there are approximately 500 million people who speak English as their first language and about 900 million to 1 billion total English speakers.

Thousands of languages to learn

However, those three languages are the proverbial tip of the iceberg; experts estimate that there are 6,500 different languages spoken globally with 800 of them spoken in New York City alone. Go to European cities and you will soon figure out that many inhabitants are poly-lingual in ability.  At a local Greenwich gym, one trainer modestly explains that he can communicate in 9 different languages! Not a norm among most American educated trainers. The truth is that the benefits to learning another language are multiple and critical in this inter-connected world.

Learning more than just foreign words

According to Ivana Farina, Head of the World Language Department at Greenwich Education Group, learning another language is much more than simply acquiring the ability to communicate, rather it is about understanding how other people think. Farina explains that foreign language knowledge gives one a better understanding of another culture and results in clearly seeing things from the perspective of others.

“Possess Another Soul”

In fact, Harvard researchers found that the language we speak influences our thoughts, feelings and behaviors.  “Charlemagne is reputed to have said that to speak another language is to possess another soul,” said the paper’s co-author, Oludamini Ogunnaike, a Harvard graduate student. “This study suggests that language is much more than a medium for expressing thoughts and feelings. Our work hints that language creates and shapes our thoughts and feelings as well.” Beyond the fact that conversing in another language is a sign of respect for others, foreign language knowledge can give us a  “deeper global understanding.”

Simple examples abound. Speakers of Latin languages such as Spanish or Italian are often cited for being emotional and expressive while many speakers in Anglo-Saxon languages are seen as more taciturn and reserved; a vast generality but does language influence temperament or the reverse? Regardless, the cultural expressive norms are intertwined.

By understanding your counterpart’s language, one is able to have an appreciation for nuances of the culture. For example, a simple translation of Italian, French or Spanish phrases  “pass me the salt” or “give me the presentation by tomorrow” may sound disrespectful to native English speakers for their lack of honorifics such as “please.” Farina explains however that a knowledgeable speaker would understand that this is simply the cultural norm with no disrespect or lack of manners implied. One more inter-cultural insult avoided!

Speech of Officials – 1.3 billion people

Farina notes that there is a trend that many people and parents of students want to learn Mandarin Chinese, which is a very difficult language to learn linguistically. For many the desire is based upon the assumption that knowledge of such will assist in doing with business with China, the second largest economy in the world. However, according to Farina, most Chinese businessmen do not want or expect to do international business in Chinese; they normally speak English. However, knowledge of Mandarin is important to understanding the Chinese culture. It will help in creating relationships with Chinese counterparts and in deepening one’s understanding of the culture. Lastly, the respect shown for another society indicated through the mere effort to learn the language will always help in creating ties with others.

Spanish continues to be the main language taught in most school systems in the United States given its status as the second most popular language in the U.S. as well as globally.  But there are many reasons to study other languages be it the artistic connections with Italian, the scientific background for German or the mere beauty of French. Before English unified the world, states Farina, French was “the language of the privilege; even today, speaking it makes you sound refined.”

The Importance of Latin

Farina explains that Latin builds on “analytical and critical skills that are difficult to acquire.” Further, approximately 70% of English words are derived for Latin. Farina points to learning Latin assists greatly in understanding language generally but is especially useful in learning medical and law terms. Farina really likes Latin as a first exposure to a foreign language and explains that with elementary school students it is about “exposure” and studying “where words come from.” When teaching, she utilizes what she calls a “word bank” or “family of words” for these younger students as well as the Latin textbook Minimus, which focuses on grammar and vocabulary skills.

For middle school students, explains Farina, “Latin builds skills, such as memorization, that students no longer get (in other courses of study).”  She equates the learning of Latin at this level to “solving a puzzle.” Is the verb at the end? Does it fit the sentence grammatically? What is the ending of this word? Could it be the subject? Studying the endings by heart is not enough, the student need to apply logic while translating. In fact, the same ending can belong to different 'cases' and the cases define the relevance of the word in a sentence. For example, the word “US" could be translated 7 different ways and belong to 3 different declensions. You need both grammatical knowledge and logical skill to translate it correctly.

More than one reason to study

In summary, there are a myriad number of reasons to learn a second language. Brain scans of individuals who learn a second language show greater gray-matter density in the inferior parietal cortex. Not only do bi-lingual students perform better in math, understanding a language brings a deeper cultural understanding with it and bi- or multi-lingual capabilities can open doors in business.  Farina also observes that, “if you use certain words you sound more articulate,” and as an example says she asks her students, “would you rather use the term shy or timid?” Timid comes from 'timidus-a-um' in Latin, which translates to 'timido' in Italian, 'tímido' in Spanish and 'timide' in French. Farina offers a simple piece of advice that many will find easy to follow; watch as much foreign language TV as possible as it will assist with the tones.   

As far as impacting a student’s future marketability, Farina observes there is a definite shift in what she calls an “employer’s checklist.”  Knowledge of a foreign language is now considered in the same vein as skills such as leadership, communication and computer knowledge making it a differentiating quality. In this hyper-competitive business world, any edge is a positive.