As the point guard of Georgetown’s basketball team, Jonathan Wallace would never show up to the Verizon Center without knowing how to call his team’s plays. Similarly, a doctor at Georgetown’s hospital can’t forget how to fill out a prescription for an ailing patient. In certain professions there are job-specific languages the worker must know in order to better communicate and be successful. Business is no different, which is why it makes no sense that the International Business major in Georgetown’s McDonough School of Business lacks a foreign language requirement.
The school’s Dean, George Daly, has made a point of attempting to expand the international aspect of the already strong liberal arts MSB education. In order to truly implement this vision, though, the University needs to take steps towards enacting a foreign language requirement for International Business majors so that they can be familiar with a second language when they pursue careers that will put them in contact with non-English-speaking business leaders.
According to Emily Zenick, an Assistant Dean in the MSB, about one third of business students voluntarily take foreign language classes for at least a year. International Business cannot stand alone as a major, though, so coursework for the second major often prevents students from pursuing languages to a higher level. Adding a language requirement, among other courses, would help beef up the program, so that it could become an independent major while also allowing students to follow all of their interests.
The business school encourages its students to have an “international experience,” yet most of its study-abroad sites are English-speaking since many are located in major financial hubs like London and Hong Kong. Because of this, many international business students could fall through the cracks and graduate without having taken a foreign language class, and with China, Japan and India becoming increasingly important in the global business world, this Anglocentrism could become a liability.
Lack of language skills might hinder anyone in the field of international business who needs to make a potential business partner to feel more comfortable. Having some grasp of another language can truly help in business transactions that might take place in less formal settings.
“Since Brazilians like to engage in casual conversations before “talking business”, I think that speaking Portuguese to a moderate level of fluency can ease in the building of rapport with a Brazilian client,” said International Business major Emilio Lopez (MSB ‘07).
It is true that English is currently the lingua franca of international business, but knowing the cultural differences between clients can either make or break a deal for someone practicing international business. Language is inextricably linked to culture. Students are drawn to the international business major to understand how to relate to people of other cultures and the qualitative aspects of business that are associated with that. A requirement that Georgetown graduates of the international business program to take foreign language classes would ensure a level of familiarity in language and culture that will help them succeed in a increasingly global business culture where this knowledge is essential.
