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I’m a native speaker of American English; in particular, the accent and pronunciations found in the Greater Philadelphia Area. The first thing to note is that people who speak one dialect of English often cannot understand people who speak another dialect. Ask someone born and raised in Maine to tell you what someone born and raised in Alabama is saying. Ask someone from Arizona to tell you if they have any difficulty understanding what someone is saying who has a Boston accent.As the saying goes, “England and the United States are countries separated by a common language.” Start with the Standard American dialect (spoken by some television and radio news anchors and some articulate people in the Midwest) and compare that with what’s spoken in Sydney, Australia or Capetown, South Africa. Most people need, at the very least, for the other person to speak more slowly so that they can understand the words.I love hearing diverse dialects and accents when people speak English. I’ve taught students from quite a few countries and always enjoyed the way that people from certain parts of India (like Mumbai) speak a signature type of English that blends their first language (often a local language), Hindi, and British English. And this is the British English of the early 20th century, not the way Brits speak and write English today. Transfer that symphonic blend to California, where these students do their best to learn how their neighbors and colleagues who were born in California speak the language, including local idiomatic expressions. Of course, not everyone has the ear to “translate” someone’s accent that is very different from what they grew up hearing. That can be mentally tiring, to say the least.The people I have exceptional admiration for are people from the Far East (like China, Vietnam, Korea, and Japan) who take on the challenge of learning any form of English. Their native languages are so linguistically different in every way from the Latin languages and the languages that were derived from ancient Arabic (which influenced English more than most people realize) that it takes a great deal of determination, especially learning as an adult (long after our brains have switched from being language sponges during our first few years of life).What do I “really” feel when listening (not speaking) to people who are not native speakers of American English? I love it! I celebrate their efforts.That said, when I taught graduate school business courses and had students for whom American English was their 2nd or 3rd language, students who wanted to be Silicon Valley entrepreneurs, I pushed them to a higher level of American English mastery— not in their accent, but in their grammar and diction (choice of words and phrases)— both written and spoken. Most did not like that; it’s hard work; it’s not business strategy or financial forecasts. Also, they had neither an appreciation of the way that people unconsciously equate articulateness with intelligence nor an appreciation of the ways that language mastery enables one to persuade more effectively. I had the same expectation of “native speakers” of American English… and they didn’t like it either.

Most social status in Australia is defined by speaking voice, and social behavior.My mother’s definition of “well mannered” was simply about putting people at ease (knowing how to behave). It wasn’t anything to do with money, ethnicity or what school you went to - however, these tend be correlated.There is a small group of people who I would call “family money” people. Typically, they are the adult off-spring of families who have generational wealth. They differ from nouveau riche in that they don’t obviously flaunt wealth.Typically they live in very nice houses in nice suburbs but not too ostentatious (modest from the street - better at the back). They drive cars that are far less impressive than they can afford. They speak well, are polite, and tend to (not always) make private anonymous donations to worthwhile causes. They tend to pride themselves on not looking down on people less fortunate; but do tend to socialise with old school tie mates. They are not so concerned about what you do for a living and there is a proportion who don’t do much (work wise), or are artists, but equally quite a few are professionals (high proportion are Doctors, Lawyers and Stock Brokers). They are more likely to look down on you if you have bad manners, aren’t polite or crass, but worst of all - can’t make conversation! They don’t talk about money in “polite company’.One time honored way of getting acceptance to this group is to go to a private school. In Australia, (rough proportions) 1/3 of private school students are generational wealth (often with the grand parents footing the bill), 1/3 are nouveau riche, and 1/3 can’t really afford to be there but their parents see the benefit. People who attended private school tend to stick together and from what I have observed, are friends for life - irrespective of profession, achievement or background.At a typical “old money” social gathering, the women will be well dressed, nicely made-up, and wearing conservative designer labels. The men will be wearing anything from neat casual slacks and a blue blazer down to 10 year old chino’s and rugby tops with a few moth holes; whatever they feel like. One bloke I know wears long shorts and boat shoes without socks in all weather (but make no mistake there is a dress code, for example an old pair of beaten-up boat shoes is acceptable - a pair of brand new runners is not).There are few barriers to self-improvement in Australia. Most people respect ability, achievement, and being comfortable to be around.This is distinctly different from the UK where the noble classes actually look down on anyone who needs to work for a living or doesn’t have a title.In fact, the opposite can also be true; “reverse snobbery” - people who are proud of their working class heritage.Further, there are people who are proud of their Bogan behavior (think Paul Hogan before he became gentrified).Perhaps the most closely knit communities (who are less likely to accept outsiders) are the ethnic groups - Asians, Indians, Greek/Italians, Jewish, and more lately Middle Easterners - good luck being invited to Sunday lunch! And to add complexity, they tend to have sub-classes within their ethnic groups (based on tribe/region/class/religion from their places of origin).Most of us are only subliminally aware of a class system in Australia - it exists but I think the divisions are more tribal than class.However, the important thing is - these observations are not hard and fast - there is considerable blurring and exceptions.Many people in Australia have learned to be chameleons; modifying one’s behavior (within limits) and even speaking manner to blend in with the social group you happen to be with at the time. Swearing like a trooper on a construction site and being “terribly” polite when standing around in a suit at a funeral.However, for men there is one universal past time - drinking beer and talking bullshit. Which reminds me, in Australia, I think women are more concerned with social status than men.(As in all things, there are outliers to any situation. When I say “In Australia, woman are more concerned about social class than men” that’s not to say that you don’t come across exceptions. I know some guys who are terrible snobs and some women who are the exact opposite.)

“Learn like a child” advice is very harmful…..why???It makes you lose unthinkable amount of time.“But Bartosz, why do you think that it’s actually a bad piece of advice?”.Good question, voice no 3 in my head. I rush to explain.Behind every phrase, saying and a piece of advice there is some assumption. Or even a few of them.At the first glance they might seem logical.You have to dig deeper to uncover the truth.Let’s deconstruct all the assumptions behind this terrible piece of advice.1) You have as much time as childrenAverage child needs at least few years of his life to start producing any complex (?) sentences. And last time I checked kids don’t have to pay any bills. Nor do they have to go to school when they are two.Hey, they don’t even have to wipe themselves! They just sit and listen.That’s their only entertainment.So is your life situation comparable in any way to this ideal?2) You can fully immerse yourself in a foreign languageBad news. It’s not going to happen. Unless you’re willing to move abroad, of course.3) Your brain is similar to the one of a childI could quote dozens of scientific papers here. But there is no need.You already know that your brain is nothing like the one of a child.The latter is a clean slate. Yours is like a graffiti-covered wall.The first one absorbs hyper-actively anything on its path.Our adult brains are more picky and not as willing to take in the new information.Between conception and age three, a child’s brain undergoes an impressive amount of change. At birth, it already has about all of the neurons it will ever have. It doubles in size in the first year, and by age three it has reached 80 percent of its adult volume.Even more importantly, synapses are formed at a faster rate during these years than at any other time. In fact, the brain creates many more of them than it needs: at age two or three, the brain has up to twice as many synapses as it will have in adulthood.And most importantly(Their) genes allow the brain to fine-tune itself according to the input it receives from the environment. The earliest messages that the brain receives have an enormous impact.4) First and second language acquisition is basically the same thingAdults are further advanced when it comes to cognitive development. What’s more, they have already acquired their first language. It gives them the advantage of having the pre-existing knowledge!All these factors influence the cognitive structures in the brain and make the processof second language acquisition fundamentally different from the ones occurring when you learn a mother tongue.Learn The Most Important Grammar RulesHere is a fascinating excerpt taken from David Gelernter in Mirror Worlds: or the Day Software Puts the Universe in a Shoebox…How It Will Happen and What It Will Mean . (as found on Farnam Street).In your mind particulars turn into generalities gradually, imperceptibly—like snow at the bottom of a drift turning into ice. If you don’t know any general rules, if you’ve merely experienced something once, then that once will have to do. You may remember one example, or a collection of particular examples, or a general rule. These states blend together: When you’ve mastered the rule, you can still recall some individual experiences if you need to.Particularities turn into generalities gradually.Gradually means slow. Slow, of course, isn’t a negative term.But I don’t see any reason why I should wait one year before speaking some language at the communicative level. That’s why it is always better to start with generalities, i.e. with the most important grammar rules.I actually don’t claim that you have to learn grammar at all. You might choose to wait until the language “sinks in”. But I can promise you this. It will take you a long, long time. Even longer if this is your first foreign language. In fact, it might take so long that you will give up.I believe that the pace of our progress is one of our biggest sources of motivation.Think about it. How many times have you continued to do something despite the lack of progress?Few of us are persistent enough to pursue activities which don’t bring any effects.Why Adults Learn BetterAs I’ve written before, adults have pre-existing language knowledgeChildren have to learn the mechanics of their mother tongue, while as adults have a more developed grasp of how language works. After all, almost all of us know what conjugations or adjectives are.What’s more, adults are outstanding pattern finding machines – it’s much easier for us to deduce and apply language rules!To sum up – as adults, we can learn really fast. But as I’ve said many times, it all depends on how hard you’re willing to work. If you believe that watching TV series, reading comic books or just passive listening will make you fluent then… keep on dreaming. I know it sounds harsh. But it’s always better to be mentally prepared to tackle challenges than to hope that “it all will be good”.Learning requires the effort. There is no way around it.The reality is that for most people they don’t actually have a ‘passion’ or deep interest in learning languages like some of us do.It’s just a means to an end for them.I’ve found that there are generally two different scenarios with learners I talk to:People start learning a language because they want it to get them somewhere in terms of employment (the motivator to start in the first place).They learn a language for another reason such as personal interest in the language (perhaps even become fluent in it) and then at some point down the track decide that it’s a good idea to use what they’ve already learned for a career or to further their existing career.Read my article on extrinsic and intrinsic motivation for language learning where I’ve talked about this.I personally have never learned a language solely because I needed it for a job but I can understand why so many people do.I also understand why these people usually (though not always) fail.Getting ahead can be a very strong motivator for language learning but obligatory things tend to breed a certain level of resentment. Either that or you stop once a certain objective has been reached.I fall into the second category myself.I learned Arabic for many years out of pure interest because I just loved the language and the people and it wasn’t until years later that people began to ask me why I wasn’t using it to earn a living.I’d get asked questions like:“Why aren’t you working in intelligence or teaching it or something? It’s such a waste.”Over time I was convinced that this was indeed the thing that would make me happy; being able to use the very thing I was so passionate about and interested in to earn a living.So I explored and tried different options.Today I want to share some of these to perhaps give you some ideas for using your foreign language skills to earn a living.Jobs tend to require a high level in the language so it’s not exactly a case of being able to say “I want to do this job so I’ll start learning a language now and send out my CV in a few months time”.It takes a lot of time and dedication to reach a professional level (just like anything).So this will be something for you to think about if you’re not there yet or to consider if you’re already at a high level.1. Become a translatorI’ve worked part time as a freelance translator in Arabic over recent years.I even wrote in great detail about how I did it and what it involves (see here).Translation depends on three crucial skills above all:Very high language ability (obviously).Experience or academic background in the field you intend to translate. Contrary to what a lot of people might assume, translators don’t translate everything. They’re very specific on one or several areas of expertise (e.g. law, tourism, health and so on).Skill as a writer and translator (into your own language).Believe it or not, translation skills are not the same thing as foreign language skills. You can be amazingly fluent in a language and yet still be a useless translator.You also need to be skilled at business and marketing if you’re going freelance because it’s a highly competitive field.Read this article where I explain all of this in great detail.2. Get a career as an interpreterLet’s destroy a common misconception here:Translating and interpreting are two totallydifferent things.Translation is about the written word – changing texts.I can’t tell you the number of times people have heard somebody speaking and said to me, “Can you translate what he’s saying?”Umm… you mean interpreting.Interpreting is spoken and (I would argue) a much more challenging job than translation.I’ve only worked in a volunteer capacity as an interpreter once in my life and compared to sitting down with a dictionary while translating documents on a computer screen where you can go at your own pace (provided you make the deadline), it was tough.This is because you have to deal with people who are speaking spontaneously and colloquially, and you need to be equally spontaneous and accurate!Also consider the fact that many interpreters work in roles where they have to interpret comments that can have disastrous consequences if interpreted incorrectly (e.g. interpreting between patients and doctors, between politicians of two countries, between a lawyer, defendant and judge, and so on).Friends of mine who work as interpreters have told me many times of the challenges they face but also the many personal (and financial) rewards as it’s something they love to do.If that sounds like the kind of challenge you’d find rewarding too, go for it!But if you’re more of a sit down and work on your own type person then translating is probably a better option.Here are examples of the two kinds of interpreting: simultaneous and consecutive.3. Apply for a foreign language intelligence roleA few years ago I actually applied for one of these roles in Australia.I’d envisaged myself as Australia’s Arabic-speaking James Bond in waiting.Of course, intelligence agencies are nothing like the movies but just like most guys I thought it would be a dream come true. So I went through the intensemultiple stage interview process (online tests, psychological tests and interviews) and unfortunately missed out right at the end of it.Needless to say, it was a major disappointment at the time.During the process however I did learn a lot from people I spoke with and officers I met about what intelligence officers do both domestically and abroad.At the end of the day, what appealed to me most about the intelligence role I applied for was the fact that it’s a relational job – it’s for people who are good with people.So even though foreign languages may be your forte, people skills and personal charisma could be the determining factor for whether a typical intelligence officer role is worth going for.There are of course linguist jobs as well in intelligence agencies but as I mentioned above with regard to interpreters, for any kind of job like this you need to be skilled enough to spot very subtle nuances in texts that could have serious ramifications if translated incorrectly.4. Work as a teacher of a foreign languageI always say that you should always have a native speaker as a teacher.There’s obviously so much that non-native teachers can’t teach you no matter how good they are in the language. There are always going to be expressions and colloquialisms that a non-native will miss.However…Non-native teachers do have their place and there is a lot that native speakers often cannot articulate or explain properly to learners.More importantly, they can’t really relate to learners of their own language because they’ve never had to do it themselves.And this is the key point.For example, I work with native Arabic teachers to help people learn Arabic. I often explain concerns and perspectives to my Arabic speaking friends that they previously had no idea about.These are things that I know learners struggle with because I’ve also struggled with them myself.Similarly, when I’ve taught English overseas and worked with local co-teachers of English, they’ve been able to explain certain things to students that I’m not able to even though it’s my own language.So if teaching a foreign language is your interest, look into roles where non-native teachers are employed in support roles for native teachers.That combination of native teacher + learner teacher can produce some very effective results.5. Work in a customer service position that requires foreign languagesWhile not a foreign language job per se, this is worth mentioning.Customer service roles of just about every kind are increasingly in need of more multilingual staff.I can recall so many different occasions in my own life and stories from friends where foreign languages have been a major advantage in a customer service position.This just made me think about a time recently when I met a Jordanian guy who worked for Emirates here.When I started talking to him in Arabic, he was so impressed that he gave me the contact details of his hiring manager in Dubai and said if I ever needed a job in his department I’d be a shoe-in (not that I was remotely interested in the offer but it was encouraging!).Unless you live out in the boonies, just knowing another language these days will get you ahead in just about any job that involves talking to customers.Certain languages will get you further than others of course but the mere fact that you speak another language will usually put you ahead of others who don’t.It also looks fantastic on a resumé (check out this guy‘s video CV for instance) and many companies favor multilingual over monolingual applicants.6. Take a linguist job in the militaryA while back I wrote about my experience applying for a job as a Signal’s Operator Linguist (now Operational Air Intelligence Analyst) in the Australian Defence Force.I found the testing to be a great indicator of how well you’ll pick up a new language under pressure in an intensive training period (we were a group of about 30 being tested and only 4 of us made it through).Obviously the great perk in taking a job like this is that government is paying you a lot of money to learn and use languages and this pay scale increases for the languages you know.The downside of course is that you learn what they want you to learn.Don’t be surprised if you go in thinking you’ll choose French and end up getting taught Somali or Farsi instead.You can read about my experience here.7. Become a full-time language blogger or online content creatorWhen I first began this blog several years ago, it was just a hobby to give me an outlet for my passion (language learning).Since then it’s become a full-time job for me and allowed me to spend each week learning languages and to share my experiences with people all over the world.It’s enabled me to move freely, work anywhere and focus on what I care about the most.I detailed how I accomplished all this here.I also used my passion for Arabic to create a unique online resource for Arabic learners here.Of course, languages can benefit lots of other fields as well.For instance, I have friends working (because of their languages) in humanitarian roles for groups like Médecins Sans Frontières and SIL, and other friends working on projects for the international deaf community in sign language training.These kinds of jobs don’t always guarantee a salary however.If you’re a trained linguist and/or computer programmer, there are also companies like Appenwhich hire linguists and computational linguists for major development projects.See their job vacancy list here for some examples of the kind of criteria they look for. Many of their jobs are offered remotely too.Make sure to consider the future career value of your target languageThink about this for a moment:Theories on supply and demand predict that when many people possess what earlier might have been a scarce commodity, the price goes down, i.e. it will be more difficult to exchange linguistic capital for economic capital.When a relatively high proportion of a country’s or region’s or the world’s population have ‘perfect’ –insert language here– skills, the value of these skills as a financial incentive will decreasesubstantially.And to paraphrase it:The more people who learn your target language, the less value it will have.The quote above is adapted from an article by Tove Skutnabb-Kangas, a figure well-known by linguists for her controversial views on linguistic human rights.If you’re making a new decision on a foreign language to study for a career and want it to be worth something to you in the future, stop and think about whether or not it will be sought-after a few years down the track.If you want to stand out from the rest then consider studying a language that few others undertake (Georgian for example).Or consider an endangered language and help keep dying languages alive by bringing attention to their cause while increasing your own appeal to employers.Make sure to keep this in mind:Do you think your French, Spanish or German will be as impressive to employers when you and 20 other candidates after you can all speak it?Foreign languages could potentially and are likely to lose their employment value the same way that Bachelor degrees have in recent years (see The Master’s as the New Bachelor’s).The term credential inflation, used by the NY Times article above, really holds true for those of us learning languages as well.I considered myself lucky to have specialized in Arabic rather than a language like French or Italian as it’s still not overly common to find people who learn it as a foreign language but this is changing.Languages like Arabic and Mandarin Chinese are and will continue to be more desirable as economic power shifts over the coming years.Foreign languages will make you more competitive in the workplaceOne of my biggest selling points in job interviews is my foreign language repertoire.It looks impressive to most employers when a candidate can speak another or several different languages as it generally shows that he or she has good communication and problem-solving skills, and is open-minded and culturally aware.If the employer is advertising a role that requires dealing with the public (think government roles) they’ll usually look at your foreign languages favorably for this reason.Particularly for those of us from the US, Australia and the UK where monolingualism is much more the norm than other English-speaking countries it’s fast becoming the case where multilingualism is now expected in many roles.I hope that’ll give you a few things to think about if you’re considering a career using your foreign languages.