Description

It is now a cliché that the world is a smaller place. We think nothing  of jumping on a plane to travel to another country or continent. The  most exotic locations are now destinations for mass tourism. Small  business people are dealing across frontiers and language barriers like  never before. The Internet brings different languages and cultures to  our finger-tips.    English, the hybrid language of an island at the  western extremity of Europe seems to have an unrivalled position as an  international medium of communication. But historically periods of  cultural and economic domination have never lasted forever.     Do we  not lose something by relying on the wide spread use of English rather  than discovering other languages and cultures? As citizens of this  shrunken world, would we not be better off if we were able to speak a  few languages other than our own? The answer is obviously yes.      Certainly Steve Kaufmann thinks so, and in his busy life as a diplomat  and businessman he managed to learn to speak nine languages fluently and  observe first hand some of the dominant cultures of Europe and Asia.  Why do not more people do the same?    In his book The Way of The  Linguist, A language learning odyssey, Steve offers some answers. Steve  feels anyone can learn a language if they want to. He points out some of  the obstacles that hold people back. Drawing on his adventures in  Europe and Asia, as a student and businessman, he describes the rewards  that come from knowing languages. He relates his evolution as a language  learner, abroad and back in his native Canada and explains the kind of  attitude that will enable others to achieve second language fluency.      Many people have taken on the challenge of language learning but have  been frustrated by their lack of success. This book offers detailed  advice on the kind of study practices that will achieve language  breakthroughs.