I spent the last two days in sales training sessions NOT conducted in my native language.
I work with a company with its headquarters and cultural roots in Geneva. The business was born when I was a teenager (and I am officially old now); their heritage is important and indeed critical to how the company offers value to customers.
Two days in a world where a really great history and track record of creating value is trapped in a language spoken by some, learned by fewer (as time goes by), and yet still the vessel of a rich message.
As we self-medicate on the volume drug of information consumption choice (blogs, reader feeds, micro messages) I am comforted in the knowledge that our opportunity is STILL constrained by barriers of understanding which free Wifi and armies of followers or online community members will not remove.
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Even knowing how to speak the other language may not always help in fully understanding what is said. I would think some of the information woul dbe hard to grasp because one is trying to translate at the same time. Focus woul dthen be an absolute must.
Don,
Thanks for the comment.
Your statement is true, up to a point. As they say about “how you get to Carnegie Hall,” it requires time spent experiencing the language in depth. It takes Practice, Practice, Practice.
Though a non-native speaker, I reach a state of “immersion” where I'm not really translating any more… except for specialized terms specific to the discussion. Over time, those too find their way into the “working vocabulary,” and the information flows more and more naturally.