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jenks
Advanced Member
United Kingdom
3,682 posts
Joined: Feb, 2003
19 hardcore releases
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 Posted - 2012/03/31 : 05:02:20
quote:
Originally posted by whispering:
quote:
Originally posted by jenks:
People who want to lead a country should probably have a decent handle of the lingua franca of the world.
So that they can answer to reporters that were too lazy to check from their CV what languages they speak?
No, so they can have meaningful discussions with the most powerful heads of state and business leaders on the planet.
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cruelcore1
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Croatia (Hrvatska)
1,485 posts
Joined: May, 2010
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Posted - 2012/03/31 : 09:58:19
quote:
Originally posted by whispering:
quote:
Originally posted by jenks:
People who want to lead a country should probably have a decent handle of the lingua franca of the world.
So that they can answer to reporters that were too lazy to check from their CV what languages they speak?
lol CVs don't mean shit. They only describe politicians better than they actually are. Learn how to say "hello", "goodbye" and "how do you do", and, on the paper, you're an official English speaker.
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Edited by - cruelcore1 on 2012/03/31 10:02:26 |
whispering
Moderator
Finland
8,452 posts
Joined: Nov, 2002
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Posted - 2012/03/31 : 10:28:57
quote:
Originally posted by jenks:
quote:
Originally posted by whispering:
quote:
Originally posted by jenks:
People who want to lead a country should probably have a decent handle of the lingua franca of the world.
So that they can answer to reporters that were too lazy to check from their CV what languages they speak?
No, so they can have meaningful discussions with the most powerful heads of state and business leaders on the planet.
What if they don't speak English but say Russia or Swedish? If those are our neighbors and biggest trade partners, wouldn't they be more useful languages to speak? EU has 23 official languages, while speaking the same language is very beneficial, its in no way mandatory. Thats what translators are for. If even 1 of the speaking persons isn't fluent, theres also a risk for misunderstandings. For a small country like ours, it's much better that the big countries leader/big shot can speak their own language, i believe. However i have no knowledge how these conversations with world leaders are usually done behind closed doors.
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Edited by - whispering on 2012/03/31 10:36:14 |
jenks
Advanced Member
United Kingdom
3,682 posts
Joined: Feb, 2003
19 hardcore releases
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Posted - 2012/04/01 : 08:27:48
quote:
Originally posted by whispering:
What if they don't speak English but say Russia or Swedish?
What if they speak Swahili? Of course you can contrive a situation where English isn't the best language for a particular situation, the point is it's the lingua franca of the world, it's the most useful second language to have by a mile, and a bridging language everywhere.
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whispering
Moderator
Finland
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Joined: Nov, 2002
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Posted - 2012/04/01 : 09:17:03
quote:
Originally posted by jenks:
quote:
Originally posted by whispering:
What if they don't speak English but say Russia or Swedish?
What if they speak Swahili? Of course you can contrive a situation where English isn't the best language for a particular situation, the point is it's the lingua franca of the world, it's the most useful second language to have by a mile, and a bridging language everywhere.
I don't disagree with you of it being the most useful language to have, especially if you're traveling (tourist). But if you don't generalize the world into a one, It's importance in politics is rather irrelevant. However if you go to Russia and speak Russia, it does make a difference. What i'm trying to say, is that if you e.g. go to China, know the international business etiquette, it's good, but nothing that'll benefit you. If you know Chinese business etiquette, you get extra points. If China is your main business partner, which one would be better for you? And thats my point.
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cruelcore1
Advanced Member
Croatia (Hrvatska)
1,485 posts
Joined: May, 2010
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Posted - 2012/04/01 : 11:37:17
quote:
Originally posted by whispering:
quote:
Originally posted by jenks:
quote:
Originally posted by whispering:
What if they don't speak English but say Russia or Swedish?
What if they speak Swahili? Of course you can contrive a situation where English isn't the best language for a particular situation, the point is it's the lingua franca of the world, it's the most useful second language to have by a mile, and a bridging language everywhere.
I don't disagree with you of it being the most useful language to have, especially if you're traveling (tourist). But if you don't generalize the world into a one, It's importance in politics is rather irrelevant. However if you go to Russia and speak Russia, it does make a difference. What i'm trying to say, is that if you e.g. go to China, know the international business etiquette, it's good, but nothing that'll benefit you. If you know Chinese business etiquette, you get extra points. If China is your main business partner, which one would be better for you? And thats my point.
In order to do international business, its important to know international business etiquette regardless of whether you know chinese. Otherwise it's useless as well, as economy change of 1 only big country can change the economy flow of the entire world (see latest recession), and in order to prevent it, your company must loose its partners. However, that doesn't have much to do with English though.
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Edited by - cruelcore1 on 2012/04/01 11:38:33 |
whispering
Moderator
Finland
8,452 posts
Joined: Nov, 2002
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Posted - 2012/04/01 : 12:39:29
quote:
Originally posted by cruelcore1:
In order to do international business, its important to know international business etiquette regardless of whether you know chinese.
I think you missed my point entirely.
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cruelcore1
Advanced Member
Croatia (Hrvatska)
1,485 posts
Joined: May, 2010
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Posted - 2012/04/01 : 17:15:09
quote:
Originally posted by whispering:
quote:
Originally posted by cruelcore1:
In order to do international business, its important to know international business etiquette regardless of whether you know chinese.
I think you missed my point entirely.
yeah... gone offtopic... started business discussion... But despite that, I got your point haha.
Look, if you ask me, a candidate should know a few things such as tiny little bit of English, at least to say "I don't speak English" or "Croatian, please". (and to speak their language properly, without trying to make it sound less Serbian, which plenty of politicians do). But TBH there are far more important reasons why I'm happy he's not the president :P Youre right, ignorance about Eng is not such a serious thing, but it's not reputable.
P.S. He doesn't know how to sing/recite Croatian anthem.
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Edited by - cruelcore1 on 2012/04/01 17:17:57 |
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