The Lingo Edge
- Nov 22, 2017
- 2 min read
Indonesia is the top trilingual country worldwide. We usually speak Indonesian, English, and a local dialect of choice/region (eg. A Chinese-Indonesian in Medan speaks Hokkien, and someone who lives in West Java speaks Sundanese). I'm one of them. I'm currently fluent in Indonesian (written/conversational), English (written/conversational), and Javanese (conversational).
Will being a quad-lingual give me an edge in the international fashion industry?
According to this article by The Guardian, a foreign language skill is a valuable asset for someone in the fashion as it does widen the range of opportunities you would have. English is undoubtedly its lingua franca, but having a proficiency in Chinese or Japanese means better communication with international companies and/or branches. There is also evidence on the rise of Asian power in the global fashion industry - more on that in another post - so it's more beneficial to have them on hand.
When we went for the Tokyo trip, I studied a little bit of Japanese to help me get around, although I only went through very basic phrases. It helped that I was exposed to anime and manga culture for 15 years, but there was only so much of a language that you could grasp from just translations. When I went for the trip, I managed to use a few words I understood throughout the years, like numbers, colours, and greetings.
I want to continue studying the language, really. I enjoy the process of learning a language, and being able to speak Japanese also helps quite a bit in my future career, especially if I would have to interact with Japanese companies (eg. Uniqlo) or creatives. However, if I had to choose, I would rather study Korean.
I first learned Korean because of K-Pop, surprise surprise. I learned to read Hangeul way back when I was 15. Of course, since I never had any formal learning, my vocabularies are pretty limited. However, I started to learn again from earlier this year because I found it more useful in my daily activities.
In this day and age, a language skill is rather useful. South Korea's fashion scene is also in prime growth, so it could relate with my career too. SK is one of the biggest economies in Asia, too. For me, Chinese is very difficult since my Javanese accent is too strong, but Seoul dialect (the basic/common Korean dialect) is quite similar with Indonesian dialect so it's easier to transition. Also, it's better to use our time to study something rather than overspending, right?
References:
Forster, K. (2014). Languages are in vogue in the fashion industry. The Guardian. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/education/2014/jan/17/languages-career-fashion-industry
Harper's Bazaar Singapore. (2017). The Best Street Style From Seoul Fashion Week Spring 2018. Retrieved from http://www.harpersbazaar.com.sg/fashion/street-style/seoul-fashion-week-ss18-street-style/?slide=42
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