Learning languages, crossing boundaries

In this world of increased need of cross cultural, broader communication, it is important to know more than just your native language. The three most spoken languages in the world today are Chinese, Spanish and English. There are about 1.2 billion native Chinese speakers, 400 million native Spanish speakers and 360 million native English speakers. A foreign language helps people form a perspective of other cultures and values.

Bangladesh is one of the many countries that puts very little emphasis on teaching foreign languages apart from English. It is crucial to stress the fact that the knowledge of the common foreign languages, for example, Chinese, French, and Germany to name a few, is an obligatory requirement for a successful career in any field of profession- be it business, media, science, or arts. Leaders from different areas should highlight the need of learning foreign languages and focus on motivating the citizens of the country to take a liking towards learning. Ideally, it is youths who need to be motivated to learn foreign languages the most.  

The youths are the future and backbone of any country and constitutes a large proportion of the workplace. Due to the fourth industrial revolution (4IR), the industries today have leaned more towards digital communication and have started investing more in the segments such as Internet, cloud technology, platform sharing, and artificial intelligence along with soft skills such as-critical thinking, cross cultural understanding and empathy. In this era, communication is the key towards a prosperous professional journey and a fluent command of international language is significantly crucial in order to interact with clients and professionals. The youths of this generation are going to experience the peak of the current industrial revolution and Bangladesh too should encourage its youths to have a fluency in foreign language(s) which will add to their competence, giving them an upper hand compared to the other possible candidates. Moreover, learning to communicate fluently in multiple languages can reward the employees of Bangladesh with additional job securities and growth opportunities in uncertain economic periods, and will provide the employees to compete on a global platform.

Jack Ma, the co-founder and executive chairman of the Alibaba Group, the world's largest online retailer,  once said, "English helps me a lot. It makes me understand the world better, helps me to meet the best CEOs and leaders in the world and makes me understand the distance between China and the world." He claimed that knowing a foreign language not only aided him in interacting with the tourists but also incorporated within him a more globalised outlook. It has helped him immensely in doing business and conserving profitable relationships around the globe.

Bangladesh does not pay much attention to this aspect of learning and hence does not provide foreign language education from an early age. It is necessary to instill multiple international language classes in high schools and universities to persuade students to take up language courses and enlighten them with the importance of having specialty in this field for a successful professional career in future. German and French, for instance, are considered to be two important languages in the world today due to their several contributions to the literary and economical departments. Also learning Chinese, Korean and German, in particular, increases potential employees' competency levels in the employment sector.

There are several private centres that provide courses in numerous foreign languages in Dhaka. These courses are taken by highly trained and apt teachers. A few popular centres include Alliance Française de Dhaka, Goethe-Institute, Russian Centre of Science and Culture, and British Council. Furthermore, Institute of Modern Languages (IML) under University of Dhaka aims to promote and provide facilities for the learning of many modern languages. 

There are several apps, one of the most popular being Duolingo which dispenses an efficient process of learning by including attractive competitions.

Learning a new language might seem exhausting and impossible at first but the consequences emerging from the fulfillment of such a course are positive. Learning languages increases understanding, develops compassion and creates love among people. Languages will break the barriers of nationality, race, and gender and increases harmony among  people all over the world.

The writer is a second-year student of BBA programme at the Institute of Business Administration, University of Dhaka.
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