Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
Sophie Man-Cheung, a former school teacher and owner of the Lingo-ease Language Centre on Budaiya Highway, believes communication is a key to building relationships between different cultures. Her love of languages is helping students of all ages master the art of conversation and today she writes about how learning Arabic can play a vital role in career development and making friends.
Nelson Mandela once said: 'If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart'.
Communication, in every culture, is one of the most important platforms for relationship building, particularly when it comes to international relations - an area of life where miscommunication can often have calamitous consequences.
It also expands knowledge, knowledge of cultures, traditions and people in every corner of the globe. The beauty of diversity is that we must vary in our inclination (or lack of) to learn one or more languages other than our own native tongue.
In conversation, a journalist friend pointed out that she strongly believes that culture is embedded in language. By learning to understand different etiquettes, we then learn to think in a different way. Take for instance the use of imperatives, for example, "Give me water", a statement which sounds rude to a native English speaker, is a standard way of making requests in languages such as Arabic and Spanish. Whatever language you choose there will always be much more than just 'words' to memorise.
Sitting with Arabic friends one evening, it was interesting to discuss their impression of non-native speakers who know their language. Wisam, who is Lebanese, commented that his former general manager was British, but speaks better Arabic than him, and for this reason was immediately accepted and integrated into the business culture.
Reem is from Saudi Arabia and quietly commented that if a person is here in the country, they should learn the language, but that English is necessary as well. Not only is it polite but you can never truly understand a country and its people until you can converse in their native tongue. Her one-year-old was with us and when prompted, counted to 10 and started to recite the alphabet in English.
My thoughts immediately drifted to the wonders of the mind and the possibilities of how instinctive young learners generally are, when learning any language. While it is true that it is easier to learn a language when you are young, it is also very true that it is never too late and as long as you have dedication, you will always learn.
Carol and Joyce are two adult students studying 'Gulf Conversational Arabic' at Lingo-ease Language Centre. When asked about the benefits of speaking the local dialect, Carol firmly maintained that you are certainly less isolated and more integrated into society.
Her friend Joyce was amazed that she suddenly had her salon bills reduced by 50 per cent as the beautician was so impressed that she could converse in Arabic.
This year, Persian is the next 'mountain' I aim to climb! What about you?
Lingo-ease offers a range of languages taught by native speaking, trained teachers to those of any background and age from six upwards. For further details call 17590895.
