Who is this person?
He was born in a village near Strasbourg, France.
He can speak 3 languages (English, French and German) fluently. He can also speak Spanish and Italian and a bit of Japanese.
When he was 29 years old, he did a 3-week English course in Cambridge.
He works in London.
He is the manager of an important football team there.
He has been manager at that club since 1996.
- Honours: English Premier League: 2004, 2002, 1998; FA Cup: 2005, 2003, 2002, 1998; FA Community Shield: 2004, 2002, 1999, 1998; French Ligue 1: 1988; French Cup: 1991; Japanese Super Cup: 1996
The players there now can speak 12 different languages.
He recently won a prize for promoting multilingualism.
His name is .......
Arsene Wenger
 |
| http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Football/Pix/pictures/2009/8/2/1249206350861/Arsene-Wenger-001.jpg |
The anecdote about his experience on arriving in Japan to coach a team there is very amusing and the reasons he gives for why learning the language of a country is so important.
(And what he says about why Japanese people keep listening till the end of the sentence is fascinating! Maybe we should change the word order of English sentences and communication would get better!!!!)
Arsenal, along with other Football Clubs, have been participating in a scheme called 'Double Club Languages'.
Young people come to the Double Club to learn lots of subjects, including languages.
For more information, you can check out the link to the Scheme here:
http://www.arsenal.com/assets/_files/documents/aug_08/gun__1218634204_AW_2355_arsenal_edu_bro.pdf
People like Arsene Wenger are perfect examples for illustrating just how important languages can be in our lives. He inspires his players not only to play football, but also to learn languages, to help young people in London to learn other languages and to see the importance of learning about other people and cultures.
Well done Arsene! Well done Arsenal and the Double Club!
No comments:
Post a Comment
Your opinion counts. Send us your comments!