employment opportunities – Educational Sociolinguistics

Fangzhe

On my last trip to Cuba, I was struck when the tour guide on the bus was introducing the whole trip to us in very fluent English, French and Spanish. He explained everything in all three languages, in an order based on the number of people who can only understand a certain language. He seemed to have no troubles traveling through these three languages. And with the ability to entertain his target audience in each language, he gained an abundance of tips at the end of the trip.

I was surprised because in China, normally mastering English, a language most people learn since primary school, is not common and can be regarded as a great attribute. However, the first Cuban guy I met can speak three different languages in such a good way. Does it mean that in Cuba, even to be a tour guide, there is a such demanding requirement of being multilingual, or most people there actually are good multilingual speakers?

Yuri

When I was 18, my piano teacher asked me if I wanted her to write a letter of recommendation to go to music school after graduating from high school. I didn’t hesitate to say ‘no’ because I had decided to go to college in the United States. My goal was to become a ‘native-like’ English speaker with ‘perfect’ grammar, lexical knowledge, and pronunciation. I didn’t even think about majoring music at a university in the US (or in other ‘English-speaking’ countries) because I not only wanted to learn the language but also learn about the language to become a native-like speaker. I was actually surprised a few years later when I realized that majoring in music in the US might also allow me to acquire ‘correct’ English, but it was too late to change my major to music because I had stopped practicing piano seriously. It’s not that I regret I didn’t become a pianist. I knew I wasn’t talented enough to be a top pianist, studying abroad had been my dream since I was very young, and I appreciate a chance to learn what I’m learning now. I am just curious whether my life would have been different if I didn’t hope to become a ‘perfect’ English speaker. Maybe if I kept practicing piano seriously, even if I couldn’t be a concert pianist, I could have done something related to music?

Tag: employment opportunities

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