Talk about a slow learner!

One of my players from Niger has been with my team (in Poland) for over 4 years but cannot even speak basic Polish. Now, I'm not in any trouble of fielding too many foreigners but I'm getting a bit annoyed because it means he can't talk to the team and he's the captain! And it would be nice if he took up Polish citizenship. Whats the deal?

It depends what his adaption and determination stats are. If they're low, he may never learn the new language.

Well that would suck... Hopefully he will learn it! Thinking about it, he didn't learn the native language of the country from his old club either

I think this is true to RL... When Mateja Kezman moved to Holland, he spoke fluent Dutch within 6 months, whereas Danko Lazovic, also a Serb, has been in Holland for 6 years now and still doesn't speak a single word...

Calito Tevez can't string a sentence of English together. It can happen. I know I would take forever to learn a new language.

Bestie.

yeah, i was reading up on the whole tevez neville situation, and he said that he couldn't read english, reading a language is pretty much the 1st thing you need to learn. and its pretty easy. perhaps he is just lazy?....or does it show that he doesn't want to be playing in England?....he said something about retiring at the end of the World Cup

I've heard reports that he mainly is only interested in being in England for his daughter so that she has a First World education. I don't think he is actually interested in being a part of the English culture only to make sure she has a chance (so she doesn't have to live where he grew up).

The whole Neville-Tevez situation came about because the other City players translated the papers for him. He is using City to give his daughter the education he wants her to have.

Bestie.

I've heard reports that he mainly is only interested in being in England for his daughter so that she has a First World education. I don't think he is actually interested in being a part of the English culture only to make sure she has a chance (so she doesn't have to live where he grew up).

The whole Neville-Tevez situation came about because the other City players translated the papers for him. He is using City to give his daughter the education he wants her to have.

Bestie.

Oh hell...if I had a kid and was getting paid the uber wagers Tevez was I wouldn't give a damn about what language I could speak. The daughter is going to be bilingual and translate for him in the future if necessary.

Doesn't sound like a bad trade-off...

Play footie, make a sh*tload of money, daughter gets good education, all without having to learn a damn thing.

Just tell me where to sign...lol.

It's a problem that's widespread in football. I read an article featuring Benitez not too long ago, he was going on about problems with some players. He said that some of them refuse to learn the language.

I suppose they don't give a....... They're in it for the money, if the manager won't stand for it they'll gladly leave.

I understand the attitude but I wonder how much help clubs actually give out. Do they hire tutors, middle-men to help with shopping and paying bills etc. I know in the mid-90s that didn't happen and all non-English speaking players were basically left to their own devices. If that was me in Spain, Italy or South America I wouldn't have a clue what to do.

Bestie.

The fantastic book Why England Lose suggests that English teams are awful at helping guys settle, and that's why South Americans have a reputation for flopping here. Drogpa lived in a hotel for 6 months when he first went to Chelsea.

AC Milan however (who have had lots of successful S Americans) already have an apartment ready, a choice of cars, and do everything to help the players settle.

Meh,

a player making so much money should at least make an effort to learn the very basics of the language of the country where he's living. If only for very practical reasons.

Having club-paid tutors or translators is a decent idea in the beginning, but also is the "best" way to make a player [a person] become lazy and dependent on the translator.

If I had a guy guiding me through everyday situations doing all the talk for me, I wouldn't learn a thing...

And well, if an old man like Trapattoni [who isn't often coherent even in his native language] can learn enough German to produce the timeless "Strunz Press Conference" or enough broken English to be Ireland's manager well past his 60s, why shouldn't a younger man learn the 500 words he needs for basic situations?

Probably it's because I'm a language enthusiast, but I just don't get how you can live in a place and NOT lwanting to earn the language.

I think what you guys are talking about is a difference in how the brain takes in information. There are two processes; acculturation, learning something new and categorizing it as new in your brain and assimilation, learning something new but fitting it into an already existing category in your brain. The obvious example we use to teach with is the Zebra. If your brain learns this through acculturation, you say 'ah, a black-and-white quadriped with an elongated head.' If your brain learns this through assimilation, you say 'ah, a black-and-white horse.' Traditionally, English and American (U.S.) schools teach through assimilation (I'm a teacher, trust me...) by providing students with new information that we expect them to tie to what they already know. This becomes an issue when working with students from dramatically different cultures because their informational-intake-process (receptive communication skill set) is through acculturation. To tie this all together, in the U.S. or in England, we expect the students (or in this case footballers) to come to us and learn our language and customs. To not do so is seen by us as an insult. If we were to go to a nation that routinely practiced learning through acculturation, we would be provided with 'assistance' along the way. For the game, I doubt they have gone this far into depth to have our FM players learn based on cultural norms. However, it is something to remember about RL and how it relates to FM.

yeah, i was reading up on the whole tevez neville situation, and he said that he couldn't read english, reading a language is pretty much the 1st thing you need to learn. and its pretty easy. perhaps he is just lazy?....or does it show that he doesn't want to be playing in England?....he said something about retiring at the end of the World Cup

Actually as a person involved in educating foreigners in English (voluntarily) the first thing you get them to learn is to converse in everyday terms, then in job specific terms. About 70% of the course I am teaching is talking and listening, reading about 25%, with the remaining 5% devoted to writing (mostly filling in blank words in sentences).

In school we did it the other way round for foreign languages. My French was all reading and writing for Junior Cert (GCSE equiv.) with a small bit of talking fo the Leaving (A levels). Signs are beyond that I can't speak a word of the language beyond Bonjour and au revoir.

I've been living as a Brit in Cambodia 5 years and my grasp of the language is poor. I know many foreigners living here a lot longer than me who can't speak a word of Khmer.

Am I right in thinking that Khmer has a non-latin alphabet?

Nakamura could hardly speak a word of English at Celtic even though he was there for 4 years. It can happen.

^ because 99% of English speakers can't understand a word of the Queens when spoke with a Glaswegian accent .

Am I right in thinking that Khmer has a non-latin alphabet?

You're right. i'm just talking about speaking. My oral skills are about 3 in FM terms; many are 1. For writing only maybe 5% of foreign residents can read or write it.

As much as it would be great for the players to learn the language, it's just like anything else in that they have to be interested in doing the particular thing in the first place.

Take one of my fave players at the team i support, Nacho Novo at Rangers. Now despite playing in Scotland since 2001 with Raith Rovers, and having a spell at Dundee before moving to Rangers, and having a girlfriend who is Scottish, his language skills in English are still not great and he's been living in Scotland for the best part of a decade.

Case in point, when Carlos Cuellar moved to Scotland, Novo was asked to help him settle as they were both Spanish. 6 months later when Cuellar was asked how much of a help Novo was he replied albeit slightly jokingly "My english is now better than Nacho's and i'm doing the translating for him". (I am paraphrasing here before anyone tell's me these were not his exact words).

I've heard reports that he mainly is only interested in being in England for his daughter so that she has a First World education.

He will be sorely dissapointed!