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FEATURES Within the City many businesses require staff to be multilingual. A recent CBI survey reported that 71 percent of employers are not satisfied with graduate language skills. A report by the CIHE (Council for Industry and Higher Education) showed that 60 percent of the UK���s top employers indicate that experience of international study enhances employability. Language skills are all the more valuable if they are linked to international experience. We should not take for granted the dominance of English. Only six percent of the world population speaks English as a first language and 75 percent of UK trade takes place with countries where English is not the first language. Why should people buy our goods and services if we do not afford them the courtesy of engaging in their language? As Willy Brandt said: ���If I���m selling to you, I speak your language. If I���m buying, dann m��ssen Sie Deutsch sprechen.��� British employers tend to identify French and German as key, but as we build up trading markets beyond Europe and the Commonwealth, including the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China), language proficiency will also be required in Spanish and Portuguese, in Russian and Arabic, in Mandarin and Cantonese. Some of these we shall find much more challenging to master than others. Some jobs will need specialist language skills and fluency; many more will call for conversational ability, to break down barriers, build friendly relations and generally ease the way in which business can be conducted. If we need languages to address the hard times of the economic situation, so too do we need them to address what the brilliant political scientist, Joe Nye, pioneered as the theory of soft power. He has said: ���Effective public diplomacy is a two-way street that involves listening as well as talking. Soft power rests on some shared values. That is why exchanges are often more effective than mere broadcasting. By definition, soft power means getting others to want the same outcomes you want, and that requires an understanding of how they are hearing your messages and fine-tuning it accordingly. It is crucial to understand the target audience��� Not only do actions need to reinforce words, but it is important to remember that the same words and images that are most successful in communicating to Vol/51 No/6 2012 Figures show that the number of applications for languages in 2011 far exceeded the number of places a domestic audience may have negative effects on a foreign audience.��� It was encouraging to hear the Foreign Secretary announce a ��1 million programme to improve the language skills of FCO staff last year, following the much lamented axing of the Foreign Office Language School in 2007. Recent figures indicate that 90 percent of the Diplomatic Service has no recognised language abilities for the country where they are posted, a situation which is surely ripe for improvement. Within the European Union, the UK should be playing a full role. Yet we find that the decline in language competences is having a very damaging impact on our effectiveness. The EU needs lawyers, scientists, doctors, security and military experts, as well as those from business and industry. But where are the British high-fliers? In last year���s competitive recruitment drive for EU jobs in Brussels, only seven of the 308 successful candidates were British graduates. Only 1.5 percent of the 51,000 applicants were British. Our influence and interests cannot be adequately addressed if we have so few of our nationals at the heart of decision-making ��� decisions which affect us all in everyday life. This shortfall may be due, in part, to a lack of enthusiasm about careers with the EU, partly because the European fast-stream calls for exams to be taken in a second language, usually French or German. That assessment involves translating into and out of the second language. The practice of prose, as well as translation, has declined significantly both at school and university levels. Our candidates find themselves disadvantaged by lack of proficiency in this use of language. I am told that another handicap is the poor grammar of many British candidates, who find themselves out-performed by candidates from other English-speaking countries, where the structures of language are still taught. Bring back Munro Leaf! This languages deficit is of concern in international institutions, such as the EU and the United Nations, where business can be seriously hampered by inadequate numbers or standards of interpreters. Modern foreign languages are a key component in enriching lives and promoting good international relations. Tolstoy once said: ���Tout comprendre, c���est tout pardonner.��� We may not forgive everything, but if we understand a little better, we condemn a little less. Developing that understanding depends on communication, on familiarity with languages which leads to respect for the customs and cultures of different peoples. Academia and industry have incentives and provision to help in remedying the UK���s language deficit. The Chartered Institute has, for more than a century, promoted language solutions to create a more peaceful and prosperous world. If we all work together, the UK will have the will and the means to equip the country with the language skills to face up to hard times and to exert soft power. This is an edited version of the Threlford Memorial Lecture, given on 6 October 2012. Notes 1 ���Primary Modern Foreign Languages: Longitudinal survey of implementation of national entitlement to language learning at Key Stage 2 ��� Final Report���, July 2009, National Foundation for Education Research and Department for Children, Schools and Families (www.education.gov.uk/publications/ eOrderingDownload/DCSF-RR127.pdf) 2 ���Language Learning in Secondary Schools in England: Findings from the 2011 Language Trends Survey���, March 2012, CfBT Education Trust (www.cfbt.com/evidenceforeducation/ pdf/Language%20Trends%20Report.pdf) DECEMBER/JANUARY The Linguist 17