The Value of Multilingualism

My expriences as a multilingual interna­tional professional have not all been roses and glory. About ten years ago in Mo­zambique I had just delivered—in “good-enough” Portuguese—a briefing on the growth outlook for Africa to a group of government officials and embassy staff. As I emerged from the meeting, a televi­sion news crew thrust a camera in my face and demanded my thoughts on Mozam­bique’s economic prospects. What I sput­tered out in not-at-all-good Portuguese might, I believe, be rendered as: “Grow, Mozambique, grow! Big, big growth!”