Languishing without languages

📅 Published: August 19, 2025

📰 Source: thestandard

Curated by AllZimNews.com

However, what has any of that to do with an article on school sport?

We do well to ask that as well.

We might easily argue that there is great value in sportspeople learning different languages, with the whole world becoming smaller and smaller and with greater access for sportspeople to play in different countries.

The current Sables national rugby squad that has recently qualified for the 2027 Rugby World Cup has several players playing for clubs in countries where English is not the main language.

In soccer, Knowledge Musona, recently signed by Scottland FC, has played in South Africa, in Belgium, in Germany and Saudi Arabia.

Marshall Munetsi has played in France for Stade De Rheims, Tino Kadewere for Nantes also in France and Jordan Zemura for Udinese in Italy.

Christian Wilhelmsson, a Swedish soccer player, has played for clubs in eleven different countries, while in tennis, Novak Djokovic is widely recognized as the tennis player who speaks the most languages, with 11 languages to his name.

It clearly pays for players to speak different languages.

It is the same for managers with the most notable examples being Jose Mourinho who speaks at least five languages, as does Pep Guardiola.

Roy Hodgson, a former manager of many clubs, learned six.

However, there are also other important languages.

According to Gary Chapman, there are five specific love languages: words of affirmation, quality time, receiving gifts, physical touch, and acts of service, all of which need to be learned.