City view: Language basics are a vital tool
Oct 20 2009 by Anna Blackaby, Birmingham Post
The greenback’s descent to a 14-month low last week has prompted much speculation about the potential end of dollar hegemony.
Although any clear replacement for the world’s dominant currency appears to be a long way off, it seems the dollar, faced with the realities of the post-credit crunch global economy, is in a state of long-term decline.
Related to the monetary shift going on is the parallel trend of the slow demise of “English hegemony” where the world’s business language appears to be charting a new, declining phase in its evolution.
The rise of the BRIC countries, hastened by the deep economic pain in the West in the wake of the credit crunch, has meant, just like the currency situation, the need for one single dominant language which sets the scene for all global interaction is slowly slipping away.
There has never been a more pressing time to embrace a foreign language.
A recent study by an economist at Cardiff Business School, Professor James Foreman-Peck, has concluded that the UK could add £21 million a year to its GDP and highlighted the UK’s over-inflated view of the importance of English in dealings with overseas clients.
But – just as there is currently no serious contender for a currency to step forward and replace the dollar – is there any one language that can take the place of English on the world stage?
The unfortunate answer is no – otherwise our high streets would be lined with, let’s say, Chinese language schools just as the main thoroughfares of European, Asian and South American cities and towns are lined with English language schools.
Some economists are pointing long-term to a “basket approach” to the global currency question where the dollar won’t be directly replaced as the most important reserve currency in the world but instead the euro and the renminbi will both have a role to play.
A similar case could be made for languages – except whereas the single European currency covers 16 countries, by my own calculations 17 languages are spoken within the area where the euro circulates.
So the real problem for businesses and ambitious employees is knowing which linguistic horse to back.
A little goes a long way it seems – even if it’s a smattering of Chinese or a few words of Arabic – by showing you are willing to meet a client half-way there, or even just two steps in their general direction, it sends a clear message of co-operation.
