Dear friends,
What are the most important things you gain from learning a new language, no matter a 2nd or a 3rd language?
I've been learning English as my 2nd language since junior high school, and work for international business with it for some years. Most of the time, this language is for work, and for obtaining new skills like 3D modelling, mechanial installation etc.
Then I began to learn Italian as my 3rd language, and I gain the most important thing via this language - friendship and the love between different people.
The reason for me to begin learning Italian was because that my employer decided to buy automatic machines for producing nonstick cookware, and the majority of machine makers are Italian companies.
I went to Italy for verification before delivery, for training and purchase negotiation; after machines arrived, I worked together with their technicians even business owners for installation, training etc; then almost everyday, I have some small conversations with their people via Skype or WhatsApp.
As time goes by, I become a good friend with these Italians. We can usually meet 1 or 2 times every year, but every time we meet, it always feels like meeting a long lost friend, and there is some "happy tears" in my heart.
Those are very nice people. They are gentle and patient, who will explain in a very clear way to make me - someone has never had any technical education - understand how to resolve a problem of an advanced automatic machine. And they will also tell me a lot about their language, their foods, cultures etc. "Che barbai che sei" ("How stupid you are", a dialect of Brescia) is something interesting learnt during we were trying to resolve a problem related to a fuse of electric board.
I've heard a lot of about Vietnam since I was a kid, and my hometown Guangxi province is directly connected with this country. I've never been there before. Now I'm beginning to learn Vietnamese and other subjects, I hope that I will make some new friends there too, who will be one of the most important part in life.
What about you? Would you like to share your stories with us?
Last week, I went to our most important customer in the east of China. The major purpose of this trip was to demonstrate the functions and safety of our automatic machines (built by an Italian company).
During this trip, it'd been confirmed that I will need to go again next Monday, in order to finalize this project with our customer. Their HQ is in France, and their technical managers - who can make final decisions - are coming on 16th. They will verify our machines on site.
Meanwhile, one of the connectors for pneumatic cylinders needs to be replaced, because the original one was damaged during transportation in land. This component is not common in Chinese market, and probably will take some time to find.
My colleague and boss confirmed that they would buy a flight ticket for me, and buy a new connector for replacement. However, this morning I sent messages to them to double check these 2 important points, and they told me "no" for both.
Considering that I will be on the way tomorrow, I went out to search for a connector in local market for half a day, but none has been found suitable. Next, I spent another half day searching on the web and finally got one, which will be sent directly to the customer.
I'm really angry about my colleague and boss, but of course, I didn't kick their asses.
Usually, when I run into a "deep shit", which makes me unhappy, I will take a piece of paper to write causes and solutions down, and more importantly, write down the possible results. Then I will realize, even this is a "deep shit", it will work out okay sooner or later, not really something that worths my time.
This is my story and my special "fire extinguisher" for the fire of my anger. Can you share yours with us?
I've seen some friends explaining in their profile or messages that "my English is not good" (actually it looks good). My suggestion is not to worry about your pronunciation, vocabulary or grammar of your English / another language.
I've been an English learner and speaker for some years, and I also had some bad experience about struggling to improve my writing and speaking skills.
After a few years, especially after working with people from different countries, when I look back to those experiences, I find the most important is not to make your language perfect before you can make friends.
Speaking a language is one of the ways for communication. In some case, your spoken language may not be sufficient for oral communication, but it won't be a problem for communication - you actually have other tools, like body language, pictures, drawings etc.
I have some very good Italian friends, who are technicians for automatic machines, production lines and industrial robots. However, they don't speak English and my Italian is actually just so-so. When we meet face to face, we just can't communicate without Google Translate (we just look at each other and smile...LOL...). But this has never been a problem for our friendship and cooperation.
Instead of worrying about your language skills, try to ask yourself some other questions, if you feel hesitant to open your mouth:
1. Are you kind to other people, even those you don't know?
2. Are you open to different ideas about subjects in life?
3. Will you be happy to offer a helping hand, if your friend is in trouble?
4. Will you say thank you, if someone helps you?
5. Are you willing to spend some time understanding the difference among people?
If your answers to these questions are "yes", then just open your mouth and try to speak the language - that you want to learn - as often as possible. These are the fundamental factors that really connect people in the world. There is always another way for others to help you understand a their language.
Stop worrying about your pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar. Make them your tools for communication, instead of barrier.
You're a nice person, and people will like you and help with your language learning. You will make big improvements as time goes by.
Good luck with your learning!
I began learning English at junior high school, and I did really bad at the first 2 years. But at that time, I didn't hate English because of my poor scores at school. I listend to English songs and saw many Hollywood films very frequently every day, since they were very interesting to me.
My English began to improve when I was at grade 3, and it kept at peak performance since then. I chose Business English as my major at university, and worked 2 years for international business.
Later I had a chance to take care of projects for imported machines, and began to work with Italians. I thought "English is the world language", but I was wrong. It's difficult to communicate with Italian technicians in English, unless you use Google Translate. Then I began to learn Italian and made lots of friends with them.
Now I may go to Vietnam for some business trips in the near future. My hometown is Guangxi province, and it's directly connected with Vietnam. I've heard a lot about Vietnam since I was kid. Now I'm very curious about this country, and hope to learn my 3rd foreign language - Vietnamese.
In very few words, my motivation to learn a new language is personal interest and needs. What about yours?
Hope you can share your stories with me!!
