I finally got to watch the DVRed FIFA Ballon d’Or 2014 Gala night show and you can imagine how thrilled I was looking at another fantastic media display( lights & sound). Sure I love football(Soccer) like any other fun loving person on the planet and I was happy that the show was a success and congratulations to all the nominees and eventual winners in all the different categories, but what got me seriously excited was the hostess of the show Kate Abdo (@kate_abdo).
Anyone who has watched CNN world sport show will definitely recognize her as one of the many hosts of that show, she is now the Head sports presenter at Sky Sports News in Germany. God knows I love a woman that can hold her own when it comes to a deep and lengthy sports conversation, be it football, Tennis, basketball,swimming etc. my wife is one of such few creatures.
Now I can rave on & on about Kate’s cuteness (that goes without saying), but what tickled my fancy more than anything else was her ability to effortlessly switch between German,Spanish,English & French. At some point she had to apologize to Martha( from Brazil) that she couldn’t speak Portugese, wow!.
While consulting in the Congo Republic in 2006, I was privileged to sit next to one UN employee that was heading for DRC on a flight from Lagos, after we exchanged plesantaries, we got talking about the world with all the conflicts & I just mentioned in passing that I would love to work with the UN maybe as a volunteer for starters.
At that point he told me how tough it was to get to work for the UN at the international level & then he mentioned two things that will surely boost one’s chances & they are the ability to be multilingual ( at least 2 of the international languages) as well as be a good project manager.
Kate brought that back to me with her awesome display & I am not surprised she’s got a first-class BA (Hons) degree in European Languages.
While I am OK when it comes to the project manager aspect of things, I am still far from being internationally multilingual.
So Kate, thanks for bringing this back to perspective, must update my 2015 goals…….
This is my snippet, I am SHALOMESQ
Shalomesq Snippet 
Really on point. Apart from looking to see who would win the ballon d’Or, I kept wondering how she could switch and be so fluent. I think I am language averse and certainly don’t share your multilingual goals but it is certainly a pleasure to watch someone display such dexterity with language
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Interesting blog…didnt know you had talent for writing.. Kudos! If you wanna learn a foreign language-go for mandarin Chinese 😃
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Thanks Kenny, I guess Chinese will help since I work with a lot of them. It will be great to be able to catch their conversations during negotiation meetings lol!!
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So true!..Kate was fantastic!…she juggled the languages effortlessly!!!..doing chinese wouldn’t b bad!
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Jephtah, Chinese is not a bad idea to learn.
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Agreed ! why I see JJ Okocha as not only a talented footballer but the ultimate international soccer ambassador. Speaks German, Turkish, French, English really well. Be Good to encourage the kids as well….
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On point Pitan, we should prepare our kids to be world citizens.
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I also watched the replayed ballondor event and was shocked at how captivating the event was compared to other award shows. I think the diversity in language was one of the main things that helped hold my attention. I won’t mind learning french seriously, even though I’ve always payed lip service to doing that …
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Yella,i totally agree, but I would suggest that you go for it man. Do something different this year, add to yourself and you will be better of for it.
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