July, 2017 | Fiona Citkin

Mary Kay Ash, founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics, had enough time in her daily life to work, taking care of her home, writing a book, and even creating her own makeup brand. Wait, she did not only have the time, she “took the time” to make it happen.

Plenty of times when we felt trapped in our daily chores at home and at work, we may have felt we did not have time for much else, we got out of bed as soon as the sun is out and arrived home late at night, only to continue slaving in the kitchen, until all we had left was a few hours to sleep – just to repeat it all again the next day. Just having to say it is exhausting, but who decides where our time goes?

A working mother should decide on her priorities.

The problem usually lies in the fact that our priorities are wrong. Yes, money is indeed a priority, which is why we give our job the importance it deserves, and that is undisputable. Of course, our home is just as important, we can maintain a good and stable life if we produce money and have time left to take care of our loved ones. But what about me? What about my health, happiness, and life as an individual? Aren’t they as important as the rest? The time has come to start organizing our priorities.

As women, we need to learn to give the same value we give to our obligations to ourselves, because our body and mind are also our responsibility and, if we do not care, no one else will.

There are many ways to shift our priorities for our own good. Learning a new language broadens our horizons. Yoga is an obligation if you feel you need to take care of your body. Maybe you also want to go to a coffee shop alone and read an entire book in one day. It is your responsibility to do this. Go for it!

Time is on your side and it is yours to manage. You may want to follow Mary Kay Ash as a role model and have a happy life!

Vanessa Fardi / NEUVOO

Team Leader US/CA/LATAM

Email: vanessa@neuvoo.com

NEUVOO is a free job search aggregator that indexes jobs directly from companies’ career websites, placement agencies and job boards.

The answer to this question is always going to be a big, fat YES.
Whoever says or insists that culture is not an important and crucial factor when learning a foreign language, is completely and utterly wrong.

First, trying to separate the two is going to be rather difficult, since they are linked in so many ways that is practically impossible to learn a language without taking into consideration the traditions, common sayings, proverbs, ways to address a person correctly and the cultural influence behind it.

Second, learning about the country, its history, traditions, government and geography allows you to enrich the learning process and have a more meaningful context when speaking this newly acquired language. We could list a million reasons culture is connected to the language and we are probably going to do so in this article.

Each language carries with it all the history and culture of the area that it originated in. The political, social and economic conditions of the country will always influence its vocabulary and the different meanings of its words. For example, Spanish, being the official language in more than 20 countries, has such a rich vocabulary that most of its words have different meanings depending on the region where you are. Let us take, as an example, the word “apretar.” In Chile, the verb means to make someone keep their obligation; in Argentina and Uruguay, it means to kiss passionately; in Venezuela, it means to tighten –a screw, for example-; and in Mexico, used as an adjective, it means to have more money than others. You can call a thong “zunga” in many South American countries, but in Colombia, you would be calling someone a prostitute. In Japan, if you are not familiar with their –complicated- honorific speech, you could easily screw up a business negotiation. Starting to understand the importance of culture when learning a new language, are we?

The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) has concluded that through the study of other languages, students gain knowledge and understanding of the cultures that use that language. The fact that teachers are being conscious about having their students learn both the language and the culture behind it is just another piece of evidence that supports the big, fat yes we used to answer the main question in this article. A student will never truly master a foreign language unless they also master the cultural context that it implies.

Language learners from diverse cultures

How can foreign language learners acquire this magnificent knowledge? Well, the best way to both learn a new language and its culture is to go to the country per se, but we all know not everybody can afford to do that. However, this would be the ideal scenario. Going to London, Australia or the US to learn English; learning Mandarin in Hong Kong; Spanish in Mexico, Buenos Aires or Madrid; Japanese in Tokyo; and Italian in beautiful Tuscany. Another option is to try finding a native speaker to teach you. He or she will probably have a good insight on what the cultural context is like in their country of origin. You can also try doing your own research or even finding friends who speak the language online, this way, you can also practice –free of charge- whenever you like! The Internet is a wonderful multicultural and multilingual world; do not hesitate to give it a shot!

By Vanessa Fardi / NEUVOO
Team Leader for US/CA/LATAM
vanessa@neuvoo.com

Archives for July 2017

Being a Working Mother – and Not Falling into a Daily Routine: Is That Possible?

Is Knowledge about Culture Necessary When Learning a Foreign Language?