As I resume blogging, one big change will be more posts specifically about foreign language learning--and Arabic in particular. Why? Arabic is now one of my main professional competencies. Given that my goal with Building Peace is to multiply the impact of my education, it only makes sense that I share what I've learned about foreign language.
In the past I've refrained from writing language-learning posts, because they aren't relevant to many of my readers. I used to maintain a separate blog specifically for discussing Arabic, but it was too difficult to maintain two websites and a fragmented online identity. I'd rather just put everything in one place. So if these posts aren't of interest you, please just bear with me.
However, the more I think about it, the more I think that readers should be interested in these posts. Why? There are many reasons to learn a foreign language, but here is another one. If John Robb and others are right, our political, social, and economic systems are in total upheaval. The 2008 financial crisis was only the beginning, and the Occupy Movement is a harbinger of worse things to come. Wealth is mostly flowing to the upper crust of society, income disparity is worsening, and jobs are disappearing. Unfortunately, there is no going back to the carer model our parents and grandparents grew up with. To make things worse, the super-empowerment of individuals and small groups means that they can disrupt the systems and networks that we depend on every day, adding to the volatility. In such a sink-or-swim world, resilience is a vital characteristic of both individuals and communities. People can thrive in such a turbulent world, but only if they have the resilience to recognize change and quickly adapt to it.
Robb has had a great series of posts recently about developing personal resilience, such as this one about building a global brand. Critical to personal resilience is continuous education. Resilient individuals need to acquire and develop multiple skills that will strengthen their personal brand, generate income, meet needs in their local communities, and help them stand out in a fiercely competitive job market. The ability to speak a foreign language is just such a skill. Not only does it have intrinsic value, it can multiply the value of your other professional skills: business, technology, military service, you name it.
I hope these posts will be useful to those who are already undertaking the long journey of learning a foreign language. But I also hope they provide some guidance and encouragement for those who would like to learn a language, but have never taken the plunge... or who feel that a foreign language is beyond their reach.
In the past I've refrained from writing language-learning posts, because they aren't relevant to many of my readers. I used to maintain a separate blog specifically for discussing Arabic, but it was too difficult to maintain two websites and a fragmented online identity. I'd rather just put everything in one place. So if these posts aren't of interest you, please just bear with me.
However, the more I think about it, the more I think that readers should be interested in these posts. Why? There are many reasons to learn a foreign language, but here is another one. If John Robb and others are right, our political, social, and economic systems are in total upheaval. The 2008 financial crisis was only the beginning, and the Occupy Movement is a harbinger of worse things to come. Wealth is mostly flowing to the upper crust of society, income disparity is worsening, and jobs are disappearing. Unfortunately, there is no going back to the carer model our parents and grandparents grew up with. To make things worse, the super-empowerment of individuals and small groups means that they can disrupt the systems and networks that we depend on every day, adding to the volatility. In such a sink-or-swim world, resilience is a vital characteristic of both individuals and communities. People can thrive in such a turbulent world, but only if they have the resilience to recognize change and quickly adapt to it.
Robb has had a great series of posts recently about developing personal resilience, such as this one about building a global brand. Critical to personal resilience is continuous education. Resilient individuals need to acquire and develop multiple skills that will strengthen their personal brand, generate income, meet needs in their local communities, and help them stand out in a fiercely competitive job market. The ability to speak a foreign language is just such a skill. Not only does it have intrinsic value, it can multiply the value of your other professional skills: business, technology, military service, you name it.
I hope these posts will be useful to those who are already undertaking the long journey of learning a foreign language. But I also hope they provide some guidance and encouragement for those who would like to learn a language, but have never taken the plunge... or who feel that a foreign language is beyond their reach.




