Hi, Christina!

Well, as a Brazilian speaker of English, I think it is necessary to learn at least the basics of a non-English speaking language when I am in their country / context - no matter the purpose of the visit. I also agree with you when you say it is a matter of courtesy and respect to know at least the basics. However, I do teach my students to learn English because I contend that it will be spoken anywhere you go.

I think it is a matter of knowing where you are, who are you going to be dealing with and for what purposes. After that, it is really a matter of personal beliefs whether you speak in English or in the country's (official) language.

Thank you, Caroline, knowledge of situations and freedom of choice are key concepts in life.

Dear Christina,

Do you think that even if I wanted to visit Germany as a visiting professor or researcher they would accept to host me even if I did not speak a word of German? Is it possible for anybody to learn the language of a country to be able to visit it? This is why people stick to English as a Lingua Franca. If I want to know about what is going in France, Germany, and the Netherlands, I can't possibly learn each of these languages to visit. However, I do know of people who have been immersed in Japanese and Thai academia, being Canadian and American. Japan and Thailand ask for natives of English not non-natives. This is the way things go.

Dear Zouheir,

Thanks for your answer, you've touched a sore spot there...Indeed, there are universities that only accept you if you are proficient in the local language, but that logically happens when you are supposed to teach at the regular, no-English eventual department. But as a researcher, you are seldom supposed to be fluent in the local language, as your professional activity only means communicate with your fellow scientists. So I was exclusively talking about the researchers condition. In that case, learning the basics and being able to move around the place talking to local people (buy food, etc.) seems to be a sign of respect and goodwill. A researcher must be proficient in English because his own publishing and international lecturing career depends on that, but the owner a small corner shop in a non-touristic little town is not supposed to. As to whether Germany, for example would accept you as a visiting professor at a German teaching department, the answer is obviously no, but they would absolutely accept you as a researcher even if you don't speak German.

Dear Christina,

It's always good to talk about respect and goodwill, but the problem can actually be very serious even at the level of research groups, and a meaningful answer to your question cannot be given without previous knowledge of the social reality of the country you're going to visit (including the linguistic situation of the very same academic institution that will host you).

If you're e.g. a native German speaker, it's one thing to go to, say, Denmark, but quite another thing is to go to East Asia. I speak from personal experience, since I have lived in South Korea for two years, and I know what I'm talking about. And I can tell you that if I hadn't been very involved in learning the Korean language, my life would be very, very difficult here, in all domains of life, academic as well as daily routine.

You might find out that there are gaps in the English versions of documents or information essential to your work, for example (aside from communication with the shopkeepers and everything else). And you could only discover it once you get there. I advise you to collect as much information as you can before leaving. You may find that in some realities the role played by the lingua franca is much more limited than you're made to think.

There's much more than respect and goodwill at play. My advice is: try to get as much background information as you can, possibly from colleagues who have already worked where you're going.

Dear Alessio,

Thank you for sharing your experience. You're absolutely right. The truth is I am not preparing for a lab change right now, I have been through that for a long period in my activity, so the question was not personal, I was only curious in terms of fellow researchers' experience, waiting to read precisely what you just wrote. I have been through your experience for many years now, and I must confess I have always been on the "privileged" side, as I can speak and write all main European languages plus Chinese and Japanese, so my studying, working and living in USA, Canada, Australia, China, Japan, Spain, UK, Germany, Italy and Austria did not suppose learning a new language. But my discussions with fellow researchers who had to deal with "new language" outside the lab made me consider the issue in a complex way, and get to the conclusion that no matter how difficult, it is definitely worth learning the basics of the local language in a non-English speaking country, because life outside the lab is also important. And by the way, access to documentation, database only in Korean (in my case in Chinese or Japanese) is crucial, I totally agree with you. So, good luck in South Korea, I can say from my own experience, you are a brave one, your experience will turn you into a better researcher and a better person, and you'll see how much that helps when you compare to other colleagues that never moved away from sweet home.

I'm glad to learn we have a common background. And surely, the gain in terms of personal satisfaction and fulfillment is great if you're open to such an experience, which as you say is a chance not given to all.

A more technical side of the issue (for me, as a linguist) would be: what do we identify as the 'basics' of the new language? Certainly different speakers will prioritize different expressions, different lexemes, different structures. But setting theoretical considerations aside, once again, in practice you simply have to be there and you find out for yourself through interaction with people (peers or not) ... It's the part of the story you won't find in your language textbook, but also the one you get to enjoy the most in the end.

Oh, yes, linguistically speaking "basics" is soooo general, I agree. I would not go into grammar, let's say I would leave out us linguists as we are not the "baseline sample" here. Just two or three examples: 1)while living in Barcelona, and although fluent in Spanish, I learned basic Catalan because it was so much nicer to participate in the general discussion when going out at night with my local colleagues. 2) While living in Trieste I learned the local dialect because it is an amazing language and practically spoken exclusively, as a linguist it made me so much wiser (and knowledge of Catalan helped me go around easier when in Udine, for instance). 3) Standard German will not take you far in Carinthia outside institutions, so when I am in my beautiful Austrian city I speak in the local dialect when shopping, when getting on a bus or buying a train ticket, people are so pleased to watch a foreigner's effort to speak as they do, I think doing that on both sides (not unilaterally of course) can turn the world into a better place. So "basics" means move a little towards the others, it works wonders.

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The brain behind Motivation Hypotheses places emphasis on what a learner does with the language. Language learning motivation are in two parts: integrative motivation and instrumental motivation.

In this case, both forms of motivation are applicable. The individual researcher needs to adapt to the culture and the environment in as much as there are benefits he/she will gain from learning the language.

I think it will be of advantage to learn the host language. Note that in bilingual community the speaker or user of second language does his or her thinking in the local or first language. Whatever is perceived as the phonetic representation/ realization of the second language learner's speech either written or spoken may have gone through phonological processes in the native language as well as the second language. In essence what analysis based on second language native competence may pass as performance error and therefore ill-formed, may actually be well formed if the first language structural rules are considered. Knowledge acquired by visiting professors from the host language will be useful in this regard.

For research and publications English is really 'OK and enough'. However, for everyday' life and personal communications it's better to learn at least some basics of the 2nd language.

Thanks for your contribution, Polina.