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During my time in France, most people of my age where pretty frustrated that they didn't learn foreign languages properly at school and tried to compensate. Fo

by Argorak 12y ago

During my time in France, most people of my age where pretty frustrated that they didn't learn foreign languages properly at school and tried to compensate. For people in international companies, learning new languages on the job is also very normal, almost all companies have programs for that.

ghshephard 12y ago
The vast, vast majority of employees working for American companies, even in an international deployment, don't tend to learn more than a few dozen catch phrases (Hello, Good Bye, How are you doing, where is the toilet, take me to the airport, etc...) for the country they are deployed to - they just hope everyone will speak english to them. I'm wondering if Mark is the first Fortune 500 CEO to ever learn a different language while working as a CEO? I'm almost certain he's the first American CEO of a fortune 500 to learn mandarin while working as a CEO.
- Argorak 12y ago
  I'm sorry that I don't share a US-centric world view, being from somewhere else. "all US minds blown", I cannot judge. But I also wouldn't be surprised if there are others learning languages during being a CEO - it's a good mental training and can be practiced almost everywhere just with some notes and a smartphone. It's just nothing you often practice or speak about in public. For the people I know moving to different countries, learning the local language is usual. All my foreign employees are by the way contractually obliged to learn my local tongue (on our cost and time, obviously).
- peterfirefly 12y ago
  I wonder how good Carlos Ghosn's Japanese is? He seems to have studied it.
gommm 12y ago
People under 30-35 in France now tend to learn and speak foreign languages. It wasn't the case before. The focus on learning new languages in France only really started at the end of the 90s with, for example, engineering degrees requiring some English certification to obtain and companies creating programs to train their employees in different languages.

by Argorak 12y ago

ghshephard 12y ago

The vast, vast majority of employees working for American companies, even in an international deployment, don't tend to learn more than a few dozen catch phrases (Hello, Good Bye, How are you doing, where is the toilet, take me to the airport, etc...) for the country they are deployed to - they just hope everyone will speak english to them. I'm wondering if Mark is the first Fortune 500 CEO to ever learn a different language while working as a CEO? I'm almost certain he's the first American CEO of a fortune 500 to learn mandarin while working as a CEO.

Argorak 12y ago
I'm sorry that I don't share a US-centric world view, being from somewhere else. "all US minds blown", I cannot judge. But I also wouldn't be surprised if there are others learning languages during being a CEO - it's a good mental training and can be practiced almost everywhere just with some notes and a smartphone. It's just nothing you often practice or speak about in public. For the people I know moving to different countries, learning the local language is usual. All my foreign employees are by the way contractually obliged to learn my local tongue (on our cost and time, obviously).
peterfirefly 12y ago
I wonder how good Carlos Ghosn's Japanese is? He seems to have studied it.

gommm 12y ago

People under 30-35 in France now tend to learn and speak foreign languages. It wasn't the case before. The focus on learning new languages in France only really started at the end of the 90s with, for example, engineering degrees requiring some English certification to obtain and companies creating programs to train their employees in different languages.