I’ve been inspired by a blog I read today. It was by Benny the Irish polyglot who is convinced that anyone can learn a foreign language and be fluent in three months. I came across his site when I got the urge to learn Dutch for some reason, perhaps with a view to going on holiday there and was looking for some inspiration, something to get me started. You can read the blog here.
His method for learning so quickly is simple if a bit brutal. To be fluent in a foreign language you have to stop speaking English. By forcing yourself to use the foreign tongue you learn from your mistakes and you are empowered by your successes. All language started in speech and all people learn to talk though listening and copying others’ speech. So, no more text books, no more CDs that you listen to in the car, no more getting hung up on tense and grammar, just getting on with it and muddling your way through to success.
It is an approach that he has used many times with great effect. A month of absolute discomfort leads to near fluency within three months.
What inspired me most however was not his insatiable appetite for learning, or that fact that he is willing to go way out of his comfort zone to learn but that this is an approach that we could use in other situations. It is something that we could apply at work.
How many times do we fail to be understood? How many situations have we been in where both sides have put forward their arguments but no agreement has been made? How many times does it seem that we are speaking a different language?
Working in ICT I am often criticised for using jargon, initials and acronyms. I find this true but unfair as I haven’t found an industry yet that doesn’t do the same. It happens as it saves time and also makes us feel part of the club.
If what Benny says is true (I have no doubt that it is) and the best and quickest way to learn a language is by immersing yourself in it without the protection of your mother tongue then the best way to be understood and get an understanding is to leave your own language behind and immerse yourself in that of your colleagues.
Language plays a fundamental part in the culture of an organisation or the teams within it. If you want to be accepted and get to know them better then stop using your own jargon, live among the natives and use only the language that they understand.
Dank u Benny!
Thoughts from a Guerrilla Worker 