Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Learning A New Different Language

The primary reason which motivates many people to learn a new language is if they are going to travel to other countries where residents speak a different language. This may be either to business or for pleasure.

Learning a new language for business purposes really can help you to broaden your horizons. Being fluent in speaking and writing in different languages looks good on your curriculum vitae (CV) or resume. This can certainly upon up many more opportunities for you if you just spoke and knew how to write and read in your native tongue.

As far as acquiring these skills for traveling on holidays, trips and vacations, it isn't always absolutely necessary to learn the language of the country that you are visiting especially if the residents speak your own language. This is usually true of popular holiday hot spots and other destinations where lots of people from different countries visit very frequently.

When traveling to many remote parts of a country and non-tourist destinations it's always a good idea to take a translation book with you. Using a translation book is fairly old school though and new applications (apps) on popular smart phones can now assist you in translating from one language to another. This will come in very useful and save you a lot of time and frustration when trying to read road signs, taking directions from locals and even attempting to have conversations.

In many foreign business meetings it is often a prerequisite requirement for business people to be able to speak the language of the country that they are in. It is often seen as good manners to at least make an effort in these contexts. The basics such as salutations (hello and goodbye) and an understanding of how to greet someone. For example, shaking hands or bowing.

One thing is for certain, it is easier to pick up language when you are applying what you have been taught in a real situation. It's ok to learn a language in the context of a classroom or at home with CDs and text books but you are unlikely to become really fluent and comfortable until you begin to speak to real speakers of other languages.

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