Why is it so important to study languages?
The English have shown a historic reluctance and inability to master foreign languages, as evidenced by all the English tourists who go abroad and think they can make themselves understood to foreigners by speaking English louder and more slowly. Indeed, they are some parts of Spain where the English influence is so persuasive that the entire region can be considered as an English speaking area. Benidorm, for instance, is often called “Blackpool by the Med”. The economy of those areas is so geared towards Tourism that even a majority of the local Spanish population speak English. There are colonies of English people throughout Spain where the English keep to themselves, socialise and shop amongst themselves, never mix with Spanish people and never learn Spanish.
It is those situations that make teaching foreign languages so hard because there will always be one show off in the classroom who will put his or her hand up and say : “Sir, we went on holiday to Spain/Portugal/Greece and we spoke English all the time and all the local people spoke English too. Why do we need to learn a foreign language? - when everybody speaks English!”
Why indeed?
Every teacher and tutor of foreign languages, in Britain, will have heard that comment at one time or another and it is so depressing because it is so true. The World abounds with people who, without any knowledge whatsoever of local languages, customs, traditions or life, are able to live well, and travel freely, speaking only English.
It is so important for language professionals to bring out and emphasise the fact that those people who seemingly get on so well on holidays or travelling by speaking only English have a superficial experience of life in those countries. Superficial, in the sense that their inability to speak the local language means that they will always be regarded as the outsider looking in, they will never be accepted as part of the local community. In Greece, Spain and Portugal, such monolingual English tourists are regarded as being only a temporary experience and their only significance and importance to the local community lies in how much money they spend during their holidays. They are never trusted or accepted fully. It is in these circumstances, that the sheer advantage of learning languages comes to the fore because an English person who can confidently converse to local people in their own language will gain the trust, respect and more importantly, the acceptance of the local people.
In France, for instance, there is a well entrenched local custom for French people to feign ignorance of English precisely in order to make the English tourists feel the need to speak French and doing so will ensure that you are treated with a higher degree of esteem and respect.
Learning a language makes you part of the fabric of the society and culture that you are learning about. It makes you feel accepted and respected and gives you a different perspective on other cultures. The Prime Minister of Australia, Kevin Rudd, for instance, was greatly able to impress an appreciative Chinese people when he spoke to them in fluent Mandarin. His example showed that a knowledge of foreign languages can result in a positive net economic benefit, as in that case, trade between China and Australia increased. The economic benefits, to you, of being able to speak to a client, in his own language, cannot be overestimated. For business people, fluency equals jobs, wealth and investment.
It is that kind of effort that will give you the cutting edge and appeal over all those tourists, travellers and business people who can only speak English.
