What will the London Olympics do for our foreign language skills?
Monday, 4th July 2011
It might just take an event as exciting and as global as the Olympics to give us Brits the kick start we need….
Generally speaking, Brits are not renowned for their linguistic abilities, at least not in comparison to other nationalities. British people are spoilt in that most places in the world they visit, they can be understood. It’s also true that a great deal of the tourists who come to Britain can speak at least a little of the language.
Next year though, London will be hosting the Olympic Games, which will not only attract unprecented numbers of visitors, but also visitors from a much wider range of countries than normal.
Whether this is born out of a desire to make more money, or simply out of a a sense of pride and of wanting to host a memorable and successful Games, the Olympics do seem to be inspiring more British people to learn a language.
It seems likely that the kind of people learning will fall into two categories:
Firstly, people who are physically involved in the games, either on a paid or voluntary basis, and who need to brush up on or learn some foreign language skills to play their part. This could be organisers, ushers, or members of the public services who may be called upon to help.
Secondly, people who are not directly involved but who stand to profit from being able to converse in other languages, such as hoteliers, bar staff and even London cabbies. In September 2010 it was reported by the BBC that many of the thousands of Black cab drivers across London are learning foreign languages ahead of the 2012 Olympic Games. Once they have learnt some set phrases they will be allowed to display the relevant flags in their cars. According to chief executive of Radio Taxis Geoffrey Riesel,
“Frequently the first people they (foreign visitors) see are the taxi drivers - so we feel that it is up to us to make sure we not only give our visitors a warm welcome.”
Whilst this is no doubt true, the more cynical amongst us may wonder whether a potential increase in custom may also have something to do with it!
As cynical as you may, or may not be, about people’s reasons for learning, the main thing is that they are, and hosting such an international event has provided many organisations who wish to promote foreign language learning with a great tool. People of all ages and backgrounds take an interest in the Olympics, and it is therefore an event that can be really successfully used to highlight the importance of international communication and of learning about other cultures and languages.
Will you be running any language-related events that are inspired by the Olympics? If so, please leave us a comment below…
Tags: olympics, language learning, language, london, languages, german, learning, french, spanish, english
Posted by Laura Lippert 2011-07 under In the news,
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