There is one language that I use regularly, but don't list in my job applications - Japanese. Mainly because I never went through any formal training for it.
I learnt the language very passively over the years by reading Japanese books and consuming their media. So, while I can comprehend what I read, I can't express very complex thoughts with ease, due to a lack of vocabulary and practice with complicated sentence structures. (I will do something about that soon though.)
If you have explored my site, and gotten to know me a little, you may be aware that I interact intensively with gamers from around the region, not just Singapore. Some of the group chats are in Japanese. (I have 4 languages activated on my SwiftKey keyboard actually.)
Despite my very limited capabilities, I am able to respond in chats and socialise.
How?
By thinking a bit more and changing the way I express myself.
Here's a quick anecdote: We were talking about an English beer promotional poster from very casual drinking hole, and one of the newer Japanese ladies asked "what does 'All ducking day' mean?". I explained that it was a word pun to refrain from putting a swear word in print. Being a typical insanely polite Japanese person, she apologised profusely, all sorry about her poor command of English, and for asking the wrong question.
My response in English would have been "Oh, it's great that you're trying to learn English, and don't know vulgarities! It's ok, we're really chill here. Also, it's the pub and the local language that is rude, not you. So, all is well!"
Alas! The chat moves fast, and trying to form the equivalent response at 12am (with the correct sentence syntax and nuances) would have just about killed me. So I paused.
My mind: All she needs is the reassurance that all is well, right?
So I wrote: Huh? Rude? Not at all! Everything's fine! :)
And that was all that was needed to keep her smiling and the chat rolling.
Even the simplest words can get the point across clearly, and people often forget that when they have a good command of their native tongue. Which is why I think everyone should go pick up a new language once in a while.
Especially if their communications have words like visioneering, revert or ideation. (Though, if they use the phrase "ideation strategy", please recognise a lost cause and move on.) More on that another time.
