A post by the Guardian revealed the most important languages to learn: French, Spanish, Swedish, German, Russian. Four languages I understand, but Swedish? Is it really necessary to understand what the name of your IKEA furniture stands for? The Guardian stresses the fact there is a strong IT industry in Sweden. All understood, but Swedish people speak excellent English (and German, and French, and Spanish). Sorry, Swedes, you are just too good with foreign languages!

Image credit: Powi/Flickr

Image credit: British Council.

Now, if the world was ruled by cars we would probably talk German. But Germans love to use English words because it makes it sound more sophisticated. Probably the only non-English word when it comes to cars is Fahrvergnügen… and maybe Michael Schumacher, although he is not a word, strictly speaking. If the world would concentrate around drinking wines we would all be talking French. And we now that once you have a glass or two your French improves to a level where you (think you) can speak it fluently.

In the end, things that you use at work are probably the most influential when it comes down to deciding about a global language. Obviously, there are some local heroes like Baidu for search in China or Alibaba or e-commerce, but learning Chinese is such a difficult task that it will take a couple of generations. In addition, China has been good at copying stuff from the rest of the world and adapting it to the Chinese market. But what China really needs to do is come up with really innovative stuff so that others start copying their ideas / products / services. And at that point we can start talking about Chinese as the global language and we’ll start seeing long queues in front of a Chinese hardware manufacturer flagship store waiting to buy the latest technological gadget.

Image credit: Flickr, Gutter.

Now, we all now that pronouncing a foreign name correctly can be difficult and sometimes end up very embarrassing. One of my “alltime favorites” is Jorge, pronounced rchohrchä (hopefully!). I just came across a website which helps you pronounce every name correctly. The fancy title is howtosaythatname.com. Try is out yourself, it has hundreds of names, ranging from Spanish to Vietnamese and Japanese. Pretty neat.

Image credit: wwarby, flickr.

I just came across an article about the strangest Australian tourism questions. Who asks which train to catch going from Fiji to New Zealand? Unbelievable. That actually reminds me of being in Berlin a couple of years ago. Standing in front of the Brandenburg Gate the guide explained exactly where the Berlin Wall used to be. One tourist seriously asked: “But why would they build a Gate in front of a wall?” Yeah, why? Someone explain please while I try to calm down.

Here are my three general tips that I tell anyone who cares to listen:
1. Take your time. Your application is your first (and only) impression you can give. So it should be PERFECT (or at least close to perfect). After you are done, let one of your friends read your application. You are going to be amazed how many little mistakes he will find. Trust me, about half of the people I know don’t do this. They spend hours on the application and then forget about the 15 minutes of their friends’ feedback.
2. Both content and format matter. The greatest content with a sloppy formatting job will not get you anywhere. Just think of the entire packaging industry which work day and night to get you to buy a product just because of its packaging looks. Or do you think the iPod would have become a major success if it had looked like a black 1980s walkman?
3. Be and stay original. You need to stick out of the crowd so give your CV or cover letter a little memorable twist. That’s the “be” part. The “stay” part is all about not overdoing it. Stay true to yourself.

Happy Applying!

Even if you lay out some base assumptions to make an educated guess, such as acquiring a basic conversational vocabulary, there are no easy or good ways of answering the question. Picture, if you will, asking how long a piece of sting is and then saying that it is enough sting to tie around a tree. It still very much depends.

Learning a second language generally takes longer than learning a third language, and learning yet a fourth takes less time than learning the third. That is assuming of course that the knowledge gained in learning the second and third languages is beneficial to the third.

Also, learning a language that has a very different structure and grammar from the base language, or the first language a person speaks, takes longer than a language with a similar structure and grammar. Having the same, or very similar, alphabet will also help cut down the time it takes to learn a language, because the knowledge of letters can be reused.

To answer the question of how long it takes to learn a language, the question needs to be put forward in a very specific way and include information about the individuals knowledge, background and goals. For example, how long would it take an American high school student with no knowledge of languages to learn enough Spanish to manage a conversation about Italian food? That is a question that can be answered rather confidently by language professional.

So, if you are planning to start studying a second language and are interested in how long it might take you, then make sure to have your level and goals clear. You will then be able to ask a language teacher how much practice you will need to reach the level you want.

However, the simple answer is that you will never complete your language studies. Languages evolve and because of this learning languages is a continuous enterprise.