Summary
The increasing globalization of business makes it imperative for managers to to learn the languages of the markets they do business in. This need is especially urgent for English-speaking companies because many of them have long believed that English is the 'Language of Business' and have not bothered to develop language skills. Statistics show that only 10% of native English speakers speak more than one language, while 40% of Luxembourg natives speak at least four languages. Americans and other English-speaking business people should realize that, to succeed in the global marketplace, they must be able to speak the language of the consumer. One approach to language acquisition that may appeal to busy executives is self-instruction. This technique involves the use of audio cassettes, which are very portable, can be used at leisure and can facilitate passive learning.
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Extract
Learning languages.
Such "career opportunities" are presented to management personnel every day in international businesses. And nowhere else are employees more poorly equipped than in English-speaking countries.
More tongues mean more sales For years English-speaking countries were regarded as the globally dominant force in business because of their preeminence in the marketplace. Financial successes were based almost solely upon the close relationships with former colonies, and upon the high quality of the product or services that were being offered. The natu...See the full content of this document
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