Quote:
Originally Posted by IROC
(Post 6281579)
Nailed it. I work with a scientist from Africa who speaks 7 languages. He told me a joke one time:
Q: What do you call a person with an college degree who only speaks one language?
A: An American.
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African Scientist is hillarious! I bet he kills them in Cameroon! I can see it now - African Scientist Comedy Jam, African Scientist at the Improv, Two and a Half African Scientists. :rolleyes:
But seriously, I just got back from the Middle East Oil and Gas Conference and Exhibition in Bahrain(and are my arms tired!). It's a week of vendors, scientists, geologists and engineers right in the heart of the Middle East. Very technical presenters from all over the world, experts in drilling, well testing, reservoir management, unconventional gas, fracking etc. The one thing they had in common - every paper, exhibit, presentation, and document were all in English.
I've lived all over the world. In such exotic places as Algeria, Saudi Arabia, St. Croix, American Samoa and New Jersey. Everywhere I go, they speak English or wish they did. Even the guy who sells me donuts on my way to work in Dhahran speaks English. There are 540,000 words in the English language with more being added every day. In the Kingdom, every billboard, menu, street sign, and newspaper has Arabic and English versions. I'm trying to learn Arabic, but all my colleagues speak English! It's the official language of Aramco. All the specs and procedures are in English.
Yea, we're very isolated and colloquial here in the US. But they are still paying Amurikins ungodly amounts of jack to come and work in other countries. They can't get enough of us! It's not just a language thing either. It's cultural.
There are about 7,000 distinct languages being spoken in the world right now. Half of those, and the people who speak them, will not survive this century. You can go ahead and fire up your Rosetta stone and make the effort, but if you speak English, you're way ahead of the game communication wise.
The project I'm running right now - $145 million pipeline - has vendors in Belgium, Italy, the US, Spain, and KSA. Every bit of communication is in English. All my contacts speak English. You can still do business even if you don't know Spanish, French, Italian etc.
Now, my colleagues in SA all appreciate the effort I'm putting in because they are naturally proud of their Arabic - a really beautiful and ancient language with huge cultural and artistic significance (Arabic writing is a form of art as well as communication). But it doesn't keep me from my work. I would encourage Americans to at least put forth the effort. It's pretty fun learning a new language.
