"Foreign" Languages

[Don Quixote]

This subject came up during a non-baseball discussion with friends a couple of weeks ago. I thought I'd run it by the crew here--

If you've spent a significant period of time in another country whose local language isn't American or English (as a friend from here who moved to England says, "It's amazing how different they are!"), how long did it take you to pick up on the local language/dialect? And how much help, if any, did you have?

I ask here because the subject can be related to baseball; specifically, players of Hispanic or Asian origin. How long does it take them to learn enough English to be functional, even comfortable, with it? And how much help do they get from their organizations? If a player is here for 4-5+ years and hasn't learned English, are any problems on him or on the organization(s)?

I'm not taking a stand on this subject, just seeking opinions and any personal experience facts.

Thanks!

[johnnya24]

Foreigners put native English speakers to shame when it comes to languages. We're so complacent.

[Don Quixote]

Foreigners put native English speakers to shame when it comes to languages. We're so complacent.

Agreed. I find myself constantly cursing that I "lost" my once almost fluent Spanish due to non-use between the time I lived in the Southwest and twenty years later, when there was a large Hispanic influx here. My neighbors get a kick when they're going on en espanol and I tell them, "En ingles, por favor. Yo soy estupido. Your English is better than my Spanish!"

I also wonder how much Korean, Chinese, or Japanese our players learn while playing over there.

[overkill94]

Considering most players go back to their home country in the offseason, it would seem that only the ones who really want to fit in become fluent in English. Most Hispanic players have other teammates to talk to so their incentive is fairly low and the Asian players simply have a tougher road when learning the language. I'm sure any foreign player is able to pick up the basics but it takes true effort to be "interview worthy".

[Judge Jude]

It's a fair question.

I would say that MLB teams were "Lord of the Flies" brutal in many cases from the African-American players in the 1940s to the Latino influx in the 1960s and 1970s.

It's a huge business now, though, so they protect their investments better. Not claiming they are or are not more genuinely sensitive to the cultural challenges, but for sure they don't want to waste money and do what they can to avoid it.

But ballplayers are no different than others who go abroad professionally, in some ways. Some will thrive quickly, some will never adapt, and most are somewhere in between.

In terms of fantasy baseball, I'd be less leery of this issue now than I would have been 20 years ago.

[Lucky]

I agree with johnny in part. It is embarrassing how many people who come here to live or to visit are already fluent in English and two or three other languages, when most of us are barely fluent in one. But the OP was about baseball players. And there are a lot who simply don't or won't learn the language. I used to think about Juan Gonzalez and how he was making a zillion dollars here and appeared to have no interest in picking up enough of the lingo for a basic interview. If I took a job in Italy making several million dollars a year, working every day with Italians, and didn't learn enough Italian to make myself reasonably understood, people would say I was an arrogant American. Of course, if I were in Italy making several million a year, I probably wouldn't give a damn.

[chancellor]

I've failed dismally at trying to learn four languages - French, Spanish, Russian, and Italian. I did OK at German, though at my best I was barely passable - nowhere near fluent - and that was after five years of study and a month and a half in Germany. I spent a few months in El Salvador and picked up some street Spanish, but in real conversational terms, I'm awful.

As to how long it would take, IMO, the answer is very much "it depends". I have friends who speak five languages, and two of them picked up languages to a very passable level in a couple of months in country. I'd need a couple years for my left-brained mind to get conversational.

[Lucky]

I know people who have learned quickly in total immersion camps. That's a luxury. I picked up enough Spanish when I was a judge to get through most simple misdemeanor arraignments. I'm trying to learn German now, although I can think of no useful purpose. If we had any sense, we'd all be learning Chinese, so we could ingratiate ourselves to our new overlords here in about six years.

[swampdragon]

Jose Reyes was one of those young players who barely could speak English and now is respectable - I guess agents and marketing people helped.

and yes - educated people from other countries always speak at least one more language

[chancellor]

and yes - educated people from other countries always speak at least one more language

Interesting - my experience is much different. I did a lot of work in Japan, and while they might pass a written language proficiency test, most of my co-workers with science based degrees spoke their second language (mostly English, some German and Korean) even worse than I spoke German at the time.