Invest in a foreign language

Dubai : In one of his meetings abroad to secure a major contract, Ebrahim Bakroon found himself lost in translation. Over coffee, some of the people he was dealing with started speaking in French and the Canadian expat had trouble understanding what was going on.

"I could tell they were talking about the contract but I couldn't join in the conversation because I didn't understand anything. I just stood there with my mouth open. Then, when we resumed the meeting, the direction of the discussion changed. All of a sudden, they increased the contract price," said Bakroon. "I felt disadvantaged."

As a deputy general manager of a company in Dubai, Bakroon travels often, meeting and negotiating with foreign traders and suppliers. And in many cases, he has to deal with the French language.

Lost

"One time, I was driving from Toronto to Ottawa. Just as when I crossed the border, my navigator switched to French, the radio was playing nothing but French and the signboards everywhere were in French. I got lost," he recalled.

Bakroon recently enrolled in a French class to break the language barrier.

"I can now understand some words and phrases and when my colleagues at work talk in French, I can butt in. Now I know why learning a new language is important," Bakroon added.

Aside from improving communication, easing one's travel experience and opening up business opportunities, knowledge of a foreign language can also help in the advancement of one's career.

Experts agree that being multilingual can give employees an edge, especially when they compete for an important position or seeking a job.

"Individuals, who are active in learning a foreign language, relative to their industry and clients, have proven to improve communication, customer service and differentiate themselves from a growing competitive pool of the UAE working expats.

"Languages create wonderful opportunities and open endless doors in life," said Inge Swart, marketing coordinator at Eton Institute.

Choices

But what kind of language should UAE residents invest their time and money on?

Hazel Jackson, CEO of biz-group, said it would be beneficial for workers if they are bi-lingual in Arabic and English — the two main business languages in the country.

In many international businesses, the country of origin's language is also a requirement. This ensures the staff can easily communicate with their head office team and also integrate into the UAE market.

"Other languages would be more specific to their job role and who they need to interact with. With 204 nationalities in Dubai, the ability to communicate in more than one language is definitely an added advantage," she said.

"But if expatriates have a proven ability to learn different languages, then I would recommend it. Many nationalities are schooled in two or three languages which I believe makes it easier for them to learn additional ones later in life.

Working in the Middle East, UAE expats should, as a minimum, learn the polite Emirati greetings and customs," she added.

Griselda Ceveli can very well vouch for the advantages of being multilingual. The Albanian expat speaks Spanish, Italian, German and Japanese.

Currently, she's also studying French.

"Once, I had to speak to an Italian company on behalf of my boss. My knowledge of the Italian language definitely proved helpful," she said.

"Besides, people also get fascinated when they meet an individual who speaks many languages. I always indicate that in my resume and I believe it makes me more attractive as a job applicant."

Expats keen to learn languages

Dubai A growing number of UAE expatriates are learning a new language for career advancement or personal growth.

Every year, the Alliance Francaise in Dubai, which offers Arabic and French classes, records more than 2,500 students of more than 90 nationalities. About 70 per cent of the students are adults and a majority of them are interested in French.

In an interview with Gulf News, Dominique Chevallier-Wixler, the organisation's director, said about 60 to 70 per cent of their students are studying for professional reasons.

Some are working with French-speaking staff, while others want to develop new partnerships, enhance their CVs or migrate to a francophone community such as Quebec in Canada. "The remaining 30 to 40 per cent learn because they love the language. They associate it with culture. They are planning to go to France on vacation. They love fashion, perfumes, gastronomy and make a direct link with French traditions and expertise," she added.

Chevallier-Wixler also noted that learning French has attracted quite a lot of interest from expats wishing to migrate to Canada. In fact, she said, a significant number of people are taking exams to obtain a "TCF pour le Quebec" (TCF for Quebec) certificate, which is required from those wishing to settle in Quebec.

She admitted that learning French takes time, say five years on average. But the level of progress can depend on one's expectations, conditions of apprenticeship and exposure to the language.

"If you have friends who speak the language, you listen to French music and watch movies, for instance, your capacity to learn will be better," she added.

Local institutes can help

Learning a new language can take not only many months or years of dedication, but money as well. Each course can cost a little over Dh1,000 to nearly Dh4,000.

At the Eton Institute, which provides lessons in over 100 languages, an intensive group class that can run for 30 hours and consist of six to 15 students costs Dh1,350, while private lessons cost Dh3,650 and semi-private, Dh2,250.

Online courses tend to be cheaper, at Dh1,250 for 12 months, while software courses cost Dh99.

The rates for classes don't include learning materials, which can be an additional expense of Dh150 to Dh285 for Arabic and English and between Dh50 and Dh200 for other languages.

Registration fee is pegged at Dh100.

At Alliance Francaise in Dubai, Arabic and French language studies can cost about Dh1,500 per course that runs for over a month.

Since studying a new language requires an investment in time, this can create a problem for workers who have demanding jobs. To find the balance between work and study, Hazel Jackson of biz-group suggests taking up the issue with the line manager and HR team.

"Many companies support language development when it is relevant to a person's performance. If your company does not offer assistance and time is restricted, start with some of the audio programmes while travelling to work, or online courses in your spare time."

"Find a native speaker within your organization and ask them to be a buddy, using break or lunch times to speak the new language," she added.