Is It Necessary for Americans to Learn a Secondary Language?-As a Response to Dan

One month ago, my Caucasian friend, whose parents are respectively an Englishman and a French, told me that our new friend who just come to China from the U. S. is just a “typical American”. I can tell his definition about the phrase “typical American” was definitely not positive, according to his detailed descriptions. This had made me relate to other comments toward Americans from my other European friends, most of the comments concluding to two points - Americans don’t care about others (other countries) and Americans believe they are the center of the world.

I have to make it clear that I didn't feel this way before. In fact, I like Americans and the U. S. A. is my top priority among the destinations on my traveling list. However, when I hear these kinds of comments again and again, I can't help wondering what cause this kind of opinions and what is the so called “typical American". That is the background of article “The World knows about America, Whereas the America Knows Nothing about the World” I wrote a few days ago. In this article, my main idea is that the inability to master a secondary language impedes most Americans to get a deeper understanding of thoughts from other countries. My assumption is that few Americans learn a second language is a fact.

Dan gave me a comment on this topic, prompting me happily to give him a response. In his comments, he accepted my assumption - I hoped that I did not misunderstand -, introduced some background statements about the U. S. and explained his “opinion on why Americans seem to only care about themselves and display racial bias”. In my response, I just reiterated the language do play a key role in mutual understandings, even though it is not the only means for sure. Besides, I wrote that “As for other parts you mentioned, I would say that whether it is necessary to understand more about the world for American people would be another issue involved different value system. It is only a problem of choice," a part that confused Dan and that I would like to make it clear in the following.

It is the values, some beliefs in what deserves to do, that prompt people of a country to decide whether they need to learn another foreign language or not. For most Americans, they don't feel worthy of learning another language because they can use English, both in life and in work, to communicate with people in America and in other countries. They think that learning a secondary language has no pragmatic function. The choice they make just reflects their thoughts and attitudes about the world and themselves. And this choice may be another topic to discuss if anyone is interested in it. There may be nothing right or wrong.

I hope I express my idea unequivocally.

Work, Responsibility, and Trust define the Leadership

“Leadership as Work”, an article written by the well-known father of modern management Peter F. Drucker, points out that leadership has something to do with work, responsibility, and trust, rather than charisma or “personality traits”. Mr. Drucker's writing is elegant and to the point. I am delighted to read this topic because it makes me reflect my experiences in the past 5 years about my leadership.

Leadership has little to do with charisma, as what the author wrote that it is unnecessary to make every CEO “look like a dashing Confederate cavalry general or a boardroom Elvis Presley.” I cannot agree more than this description with a little bit of selfish consideration. In the highly developed media age, every CEO, it seems, are reported abundantly in all kinds of newspapers, magazines, business TV programs and radio show with a image of super star, who probably have published several books and won a band of fans. At times, I felt kind of frustrated because I am not so charismatic that I can attract eye balls of my audience. Instead, I even tend to avoid many public occasions because of my shyness, although I do know the importance of public-speaking in the demanding business world. Thus, when I read that the master overturned the idea of leadership which was thought of the equivalent of charisma by the public, I was more than happy with his concept.

So what is Mr. Drucker's concept of leadership? It is work, responsibility, and trust that count. The central idea is that the leadership is not something desirable. Instead, it is only a boring, unromantic means to achieve some goal. Under this definition, I think I can meet all the three criteria to become an excellent leader. Firstly, I always work hard. Secondly, I am responsible for my mission in any organizations I belong to. In fact, just several days ago, Ma asked for my home phone number and called me at midnight to express his willing to further cooperate with me because of my precious sense of responsibility, which is very rare among the work force of China. Last, all my former associates and subordinates not only in Beijing, but also in Shanghai, trust me very much. Especially in the last year in Shanghai when my company encountered financial crisis, all my subordinates believed in me and supported each decision I made. In contrast, they doubted the integrity and sincerity of my successor after I decided to leave the company.

In sum, this essay from Peter F. Drucker really encourages me to continue pursuing my business career. I know that I will have to conquer a lot of looming obstacles on the road I have chosen. However, I do believe what teacher Kang said, "You must do the thing that you think you cannot do" in your life. I choose it, and I would never regret it.

The World knows about America, Whereas the America Knows Nothing about the World

Many reports are describing that the Americans are enthusiastic about learning Chinese language, making a big shortage of Chinese Teachers. One article comments that English as an international language can be both advantage and disadvantage for the American people. The good part is that they can be convenient and easy to travel around the world because most people around the world try to learn English. However, the bad part is that people around the world can understand every aspects of the U. S., while the American people can hardly understand what other countries are thinking of. The language is the key.

I have to agree with this point of view. Today, I watched some CNN breaking news about the radio host, Don Imus, who got fired by NBC because of his discriminative comments about some African-American young female athletes. I found it interesting that a racial issue is so sensitive in American society, a phenomenon that seldom to happen in Taiwan or in China. While I was observing the progress of the event occurring in the United States, I started to wonder if any American people know what the critical issues are in China, Taiwan, or other countries. I become to get a little idea why most of my European friends express their disparagement to the Americans unconsciously. One of them once told me that the Americans only know about themselves and most of them are just selfish. At that moment, I just think it is a bias and an attitude of imbalance derived from the status quo that the U.S. is the supper power country in the world, compared with the European countries.

Admittedly, many Americans learn their secondary languages, such as French, Spanish, and Japanese. Nonetheless, the portion of population mastering foreign languages is much lower than most other countries. For example, in China, billions of citizens are learning English using out-of-date textbooks and materials. Contrast to this, only about 50 thousand Americans are interested in learning Chinese and they even encounter a big problem of no suitable textbooks, according the article I read.

Related News:
Newly fired Imus meets with Rutgers players

A "SOS" Letter from An Old Friend

Sent: 2007年2月1日 14:41

其实不知道你什么时候才会看到这封信，不过其实即使没有看到也无所谓，因为我只是想写写。上次有段时间说想念你，其实是有私心的。我觉得我一直都是个私心很重的人。其实与其说想念你，不如说其实那段时间，一直都很想能在 msn 上看到你，和你聊聊。不知道为什么，每次我工作上不开心时，都会想和你聊聊。我想，可能是因为虽然有时候我觉得你跟我观点有很多不同，可是我始终觉得你是个心态很平和，能够看问题看得很清楚的人，所以我总是希望能从你这里得到一些指点。虽然你从来不会说人坏话，所以你也从来不会明确地指出我的缺点，不过我觉得你是很了解我的优缺点的。在我的生活和工作中，我想来想去，好像也就只有你是我觉得能够给我某些问题答案的人。

我想…(SKIP)… 所以，我很希望能够得到你的指点。有时或许你没有真正能了解我的情况，不一定能告诉我解决方法，但是我觉得，你的看法应该会让我有新的感悟。我想，事情其实往往会是这样，某个时间听到的一句话，可能觉得没什么，等到某一天发生某些事情，才会真正感觉这句话的含义。所以，如果你看到这封信，很感谢你听我啰里吧嗦了一大堆，如果你有空或者你愿意，请谈谈你的看法。
谢谢。

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sent: 2007年2月3日 03:33


谢谢你的来信，虽然我对你实际的处境并不一定全盘了解，虽然我的想法不一定对你能有什么启发，虽然我现在的头脑不很清楚(已近凌晨三点钟)，但是我仍然很乐意先大略地提供你一些意见。近期我应该不时会上msn，如果能遇见，msn上聊聊或许会更好。

你想这封信给我的时候，需要尽量把你的情况表述给我知悉，以方便我了解你的状况与需求。在你写信完后，是否等于重新理清了困扰你的是什么事？客观不可改变的是什么？主观你能改变的是什么？你要的是什么？

就你信中所提及的部份，我首先要说你还是那个我当面赞扬过你上进、积极的女孩子。有企图心是好事，特别在现在竞争激烈的社会中。但是生活需要平衡，而工作是生活的其中一部份。我要说的是：有企图心固然是好事，但不必时时表现出来，时时争取每一个机会。这样子只会反被其扰，工作得不开心，闷！生活要有收有放，工作亦然。我建议调整你的"角色"，不要设定与你的小团队在玩零和游钱，别人出位，就代表你的失败。重新客观审视其他人与你的不同与优缺点。如果一个机会放在面前，能争取的话，一定要争取，不争取的话别人/上司肯定不会知道你行或你愿意。但若争取不来，那就退求其次，做一个辅助的角色，主动报帮助获得这个机会的人。去学习任何一点别人比你好的长处，让别人乐于找你帮忙，与你合作。这样一来，不但你能有稍许的学习与进步，也能让同事与你处得更融洽！真正的融洽，而不是表面上的相安无事。 在怀才不遇之时，要不断调适自已心态，知道自已要的是什么，然后不管别人有没有看到，都持续累积自已的实力，为的是自已长久的未来，而不是只为下一个立马上门的机会。半年、一年的累积后，如果仍觉得无法施展抱负，那么就是该大动而非小动的时候了。换公司、换环境都可以考虑。但在做长期积累前，不需要与人争一时一地，你的同事、你的上司，你所处的环境在一定时间内都会改变。你只要有准备，终能一鸣惊人。 困境的产生。有内外两股力量。外部力量，或者说你的老板和你的同事之能力与想法，你的公司和市场的变化，你是否真正客观认识与查觉？内部力量，是你内心的声音，你听见了吗？你听见你在公司裹都说些什么或不说些什么？你所认定的自已的想法真的是那么想的吗？还是你其实总有某些时候在回避自已心底真正的声音？ 当你弄清楚是哪两(多)股内、外力量形塑出你目前的困境时，你就会开始明白该如何脱困！

或许你可以在三天后重新看一下你寄给我的email，想想是不是有什么没想到、没写到的？再看看你想到、写到的是不是真真正正如此？

当然上面说的这些问题与答案，只有你是最清楚的:) 希望上述所言不会把你搞得更迷糊:) :)

最后，送你个小故事吧。在…(SKIP)…

想着想着，就写了这么多了。我该去睡了。有机会再聊吧！

祝 安 康！

北京 2007/2/3 凌晨三时过半