Having read The Guardian’s lengthy profile on 31-year-old professional footballer Kevin de Bruyne, a small part of me was rooting for his Belgian team in the FIFA World Cup being contested in Qatar. But after losing to Morocco and failing to beat Croatia, De Bruyne and others in his nation’s ‘golden generation’ failed to progress to the knockout stage.
One part of the piece which struck a chord was his answer to the writer’s question why so many European footballers seem better educated than their British counterparts. De Bruyne’s response was intuitive – but is also borne out by science. The brain, like any muscle, needs exercise. Fluency in more than one language helps keeps it fit.
As De Bruyne put it: “There are a lot of people from different (European) countries who speak two or three languages, where English players usually only speak English. I come from a country where by 13 you are studying Dutch, French and English.” Plus, with languages comes wisdom and humility – an ability to put yourself in the shoes of others, a knowledge that your way is not the only way.
Zimbabwe is the world champion on this front with 16 official languages recognized at a national level. India has 18 at a regional level. South Africa’s 11 official languages places us third. An interesting factoid. And yet another reminder to never underestimate the intelligence of those you meet. Especially in the Beloved Country.
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Outlier #1 – Mteto Nyati’s path from rural obscurity to Altron’s 6x wealth creator
In this new series on South Africans who have massively outperformed, mechanical engineer Mteto Nyati explains how his family’s obsession with education put him onto a road to becoming an Outlier. It’s a story of discipline and dedication, faith and application – and an appreciation that fancy plans are worth nothing without execution. He spoke to Alec Hogg of BizNews.
