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Critical Needs Languages For US Diplomats | ||
 Language Learning Forum : Languages & Work |  | |
| Duke100782 Bilingual Diglot Senior Member Philippines https://talktagalog.Registered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4490 days ago 172 posts - 240 votes  Speaks: English*, Tagalog* Studies: Spanish, Mandarin | Message 25 of 25 01 September 2012 at 6:42pm | IP Logged |
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I'm impressed with the language skills of US diplomats. An American vice consul, a counterpart, recently
told me that he knew where was going to be assigned two years before deployment, so he had plenty of time to prepare and study Mandarin. I, on the other hand, found out my place of assignment two months before I left. He is assigned to Chengdu while I to Chongqing, which is a few hours drive apart. In the written exam for admission to my country's foreign service, the foreign language component is worth five percent of the total score, the rest of it composed of history, economics, international relations and whole gamut of subjects, making it quite comprehensive. The written exam is only one of a series of five examinations given out over a one or to year period. It is three consecutive days long, though. For my foreign language exam I chose Spanish, having studied it at my university as part of my BA History curriculum (I shifted to another course after some time). I once attended a seminar conducted by an old Russian diplomat. He recounted how during his time, they were encouraged to specialize, so he studied Sri Lankan, I assuming he was referring to Sinhalese, or quite a number of years. However, when he did eventually get assigned to Sri Lanka, he wasn't really able to use his Sinhalese at work. Whenever he spoke to a Sri Lankan using in their own language, he surprised Sri Lankan would pay him a few compliments on his speech, then continue speaking in English. I once attended a seminar conducted by an old Russian diplomat. He recounted how during his time in their foreign service they were encouraged to specialized, so he studied Sri Lankan (I suppose he was referring to Sinhalese) for many years. When he was assigned to Sri Lanka he said he ever got to use it much (in a working environment) since whenever he would speak to a Sri Lankan in their own language, the surprised Sri Lankan would usually pay him a few compliments then continue on in English. Edited by Duke100782 on 01 September 2012 at 6:45pm 2 persons have voted this message useful |
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