learning the language for players who go abroad

by Lupi Fri Feb 01, 2013 4:12 am

Football has its own language but learning the language of the country that a player go to play there might prove to help him a lot , but how important is having players that can communicate , how is that in comparison with skills and quality of play in General ?

To me not learning the language or at least giving it a try is sign of lack of commitment to the club
tell me what do you think about the whole thing

by rwo power Fri Feb 01, 2013 7:38 am

I think a player really should learn the language of the host country. The same goes even more for coaches. This is not only about the player being able to communicate in the club, but also in the country he then lives, otherwise he very likely won't feel comfortable there and that would probably show on the pitch, too.

by McLewis Fri Feb 01, 2013 9:24 am

I suspect the Stekelenburg situation got you thinking about this topic, Epoto. It's a good one.

He's a cautionary tale for what not to do when you leave your home country. When you join a foreign side, it behooves that player to learn not just the language of the country they're in, but to try and embrace the culture of the city they will spend much of his time in. It strengthens not only the bond between the player and their teammates, but between that of the coaches as well as the fans. Michael Bradley understood this and that's why he speak fluent Italian in just his 2nd season in Serie A while Stekelenburg still speaks only Dutch and English and has not settled.

by Lupi Fri Feb 01, 2013 9:50 am

McLewis wrote:I suspect the Stekelenburg situation got you thinking about this topic, Epoto. It's a good one.

He's a cautionary tale for what not to do when you leave your home country. When you join a foreign side, it behooves that player to learn not just the language of the country they're in, but to try and embrace the culture of the city they will spend much of his time in. It strengthens not only the bond between the player and their teammates, but between that of the coaches as well as the fans. Michael Bradley understood this and that's why he speak fluent Italian in just his 2nd season in Serie A while Stekelenburg still speaks only Dutch and English and has not settled.

or riise learned Italian even before coming to Roma!

by rwo power Fri Feb 01, 2013 10:31 am

That's probably why there are few foreign coaches in the BL - studying German is pretty tedious, and here coaches who speak fluent German are strongly favoured. Kudos to Pep Guardiola for accepting the challenge to tackle German! And Trap was admirable, too - his German wasn't perfect, but he 100% brought his points accross and he actually coined some figures of speech that made it into mainstream German Very Happy

by VivaStPauli Fri Feb 01, 2013 12:43 pm

King Trap! :bow:

Flasche leer!

On topic: I think it's important for several reasons, the most important one RWO already mentioned. You just won't feel at home if you don't understand the people around you. Even if English will get you around perfectly in most European countries, you'll find that it still limits you a lot.

Also it really shows a lack of professionalism and seriousness to not learn the language of your employer, especially if you make millions.

by The Franchise Fri Feb 01, 2013 1:16 pm

It depends, in some situations its important in others it isnt. Ibra right now, doesnt have to learn French I know that for sure..if he has is another question I dont know, but with a Italian coach and other player who have played in Italy, he will be fine.

I think for goalies its important, they have to communicate with players as they can see the entire game from their position.

A good example is Rustu. Barca signed him some years ago after some special peformances for Turkey, at that point he was one of the very best in the world. However, he couldnt displace a very average, mistake prone Valdes..the reason was he refused to learn Catalan or Spanish languages and we couldnt use him. He eventually moved on with very little games played.

For coaches, I think its just a must. Even if you have a squad of 22 players who understand the language you speak, you just dont want to miss out on vital information from other sources because you dont understand the language.

by fatman123 Fri Feb 01, 2013 1:20 pm

imo it should be a condtion of joining the club, because at the end of the say it doesnt matter how good you are, if you cant communicate with your team mates and the coach then it doesnt matter how good you are

then again, look at Tevez....

by Zealous Fri Feb 01, 2013 3:31 pm

There are examples of players doing fine without really learning the language (Tevez still needs an interpreter if I'm not mistaken eco smile

) but just in general learning the language makes you an "equal" straight off the bat, it's an easy way of getting respect as a foreigner especially if you can speak fluently.

However I don't think it's a huge deal if the team you are on can still communicate with you in other languages.

by ErPupone Fri Feb 01, 2013 4:18 pm

I think it's very important, even more so for keepers and defenders who absolutely must communicate at all times. Like Mclewis said, I'm sure you've been inspired by the Stekelenburg situation. That is the only reason why he's playing second string to Goicoechea who, given that our entire back line is South American, has a much easier time communicating with them.

Whether you like him or not as a player, one of the players that mastered this was Mexes. Not only did he learn Italian quickly, but he learned Roman dialect which is something that conquered the fans as well since he embraced the culture. Then again, Trap is the master of languages, man of the world.

Another point though, some languages are much more difficult to learn than others. English is a fairly easy language to learn all-round. Then those who stay withing Spanish, Italian and French do have an easier time learning given the similarities as they are Latin-based languages. But switching from one of those to Russian or Japanese, for example, is a heck of a task in a short period of time.

by harhar11 Fri Feb 01, 2013 4:39 pm

rwo power wrote:That's probably why there are few foreign coaches in the BL - studying German is pretty tedious, and here coaches who speak fluent German are strongly favoured. Kudos to Pep Guardiola for accepting the challenge to tackle German! And Trap was admirable, too - his German wasn't perfect, but he 100% brought his points accross and he actually coined some figures of speech that made it into mainstream German

by Eivindo Sat Feb 02, 2013 9:58 pm

Epoto wrote:
McLewis wrote:I suspect the Stekelenburg situation got you thinking about this topic, Epoto. It's a good one.

He's a cautionary tale for what not to do when you leave your home country. When you join a foreign side, it behooves that player to learn not just the language of the country they're in, but to try and embrace the culture of the city they will spend much of his time in. It strengthens not only the bond between the player and their teammates, but between that of the coaches as well as the fans. Michael Bradley understood this and that's why he speak fluent Italian in just his 2nd season in Serie A while Stekelenburg still speaks only Dutch and English and has not settled.

or riise learned Italian even before coming to Roma!

It almost seems so, but truth is he had many hours a day where he learned Italian with an interpreter in Rome.. he is the kind of guy who puts a lot of effort into things and want to be a part of the social group.. he said its very important to him to be able to joke etc and therefore he learned italian pretty good in like 4 months, and ongoing

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