'How learning a foreign language changed my life'
James Westgarth's first introduction to a foreign language was at school, a comprehensive in west London where he learnt French. "My parents had no language skills but they encouraged me so I could order food etc when we went on holidays," he said.
"The result is a 23-year international career. I spent 13 years at Airbus in Toulouse and the US and am now a sourcing director at a subsidiary of Lufthansa in Frankfurt."James, who works for an airline in Germany, with his two bilingual children The 44-year-old puts his successful career down to his language skills and the cultural awareness they bring. "Speaking a language helps to break the ice," he said."Even if it's not perfect, it's a good introduction and brings people on-side when you're negotiating "My own two children, who attend an international school in Toulouse, are of course bilingual in French and English. "Now they have a lot of international friends and they're discovering the world through two sets of eyes. The gift of a second language is the best thing I can give to them." From his experience of working in Europe over the past 20 years, he said he believes the UK has become"more and more insular" and that"a language barrier plays a part". "Things could be made a lot easier with language skills," he said."I'm still learning German, and when I'm with my work colleagues in Frankfurt, it helps to show that I'm making an effort." He added:"If you see the language as living, if you experience it in daily life, it makes it more real. They really do help people later in life."Being introduced to languages at a young age is something that teacher Ellie Baker believes strongly in. She founded BilinguaSing - which runs musical French and Spanish classes for children."Since 2013, I've been teaching babies and upwards," Ms Baker said."My business is about empowering families. "We cannot afford for children not to learn languages. We should be equipping them [for] whatever Brexit is going to bring." Among the benefits of learning a second language is the potential to"boost brain power", Ms Baker's company has said.
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