They All Speak English There

In a press conference, Bill McDermott, who recently became co-CEO of software giant SAP, joked he would learn a few words of German. That came as other SAP executives, who were German spoke fluent English during the same presentation that was being Webcast. McDermott is an American and I would suspect someone as sharp as he might be joking about his lack of German fluency. I hope so.

If he's not, he's just another example of the American attitude towards learning language. It's the "They all speak English" mentality which translates more realistically as "Why do we need to bother with their language?"

That comment about speaking English is often given when I tell people I'm working on learning some words in the language of the country I plan to visit. My goal is always to learn enough to ask directions, order food, ask for help and greet people politely. Since I'm fortunate enough to have an ear for accents, it pays dividends and I think it's because residents of most countries don't expect Americans to make the effort.

Granted you have to pick your battles. There are only so many languages most people can learn fluently. Few Americans are going to be like the Scandinavians. One Swede told my wife that most speak for or five languages. That's easier to do if you hear different languages all the time and with the oceans around us, it's tough for Americans to be exposed to more than Spanish regularly, although it would be a good idea if more Americans took Spanish seriously.

But they don't all speak English; not off the mains streets in Paris. And when I stopped on an autobahn south of Munich to ask directions, no one in the mini-marts spoke English and it was handy to be able to ask in German.

This is partly about cultural arrogance, the classic ugly American. We're no. 1 in the world so why bother? The problem is, this may not last, especially as China becomes more powerful. This is also about a terrible American language education system, which generally doesn't start at a young enough age when children can learn language more easily. This again may get back to an unwillingness to devote the resources if Americans believe the rest of the world will do things our way.

However, language can be a weapon. There are periodic stories about the lack of fluent Arab speakers in our intelligence gathering efforts and how that hampers the ability of the United States to fight terrorism. That at least should spur interest in improving the flow of Arab speakers. In business, language is equally a powerful tool. Making feel appreciated by talking to them in their own words is very persuasive.

Given the America first attitude in many circles and the money crunch from the recession, this situation seems unlikely to improve soon, which is unfortunate.
Meanwhile, we hope to rebook our trip to Amsterdam, the one that was canceled because the unfortunate effect of volcanic ash on jet engines. I have this investment in learning as much Dutch as possible, even though I know they all speak English. And I know that in Holland, that's closer to being a true statement than almost anywhere else in Europe.