A New Skill Needed for the New Coach

England's national team of football (called soccer in the U.S.) got a new head coach. It's a big deal. His name is Fabio Capello and his accomplishment speaks itself; he had led four clubs--Milan, Read Madrid, Roma, Juventus--to reach the championship in the European professional football leagues at one time or another.

Sounds like a great pick. But there is one problem. Capello is an Italian, and he is not one of those Europeans who can juggle several languages as skillful as David Beckham does with soccer ball. Will it be a problem? According to another famed coach in the similar situation, it may well be. Rafael Benítez, the Spaniard and head coach of Liverpool, offers this advice to Capello:

Rafael Benítez believes Fabio Capello's first task should be to improve his grasp of English after admitting struggles with the language caused him untold problems during his first season at Liverpool. "The first thing Capello will need to do is improve his English," Liverpool's manager said yesterday. "It is very important that you can express yourself, especially at half-time in a changing room which is the crucial time for a manager.

"I had many problems at first, confusing wine and win was one example, and my players would be laughing at times when I was trying to explain things. You think everyone understands football but a foreign manager also needs to understand the humour and the small details.

Can Capello be coachable to master English before the next World Cup qualification games starts?

Speaking English IS Hard (4)

When I was at her age, I couldn't pronounce "refrigerator" either. And I had no clue what "cheese" is whatsoever.

Speaking English IS Hard (3)

Can she just say a simple phrase "No comment"?

Speaking English IS Hard (2)

Speaking English is STILL hard:

Speaking English IS Hard

Speaking English IS hard, especially doing it in front of a camera.

Generation Gap in Spoken Language

Some politicians are concerned that, as the population of Hispanics grows, English may become an optional language for many immigrants in this country. A new study shows that's mostly true for the first-generation immigrants. However, by the third generation, not that many can even say "hola". As it's reported in L.A. Times:

A study released Thursday by the Pew Hispanic Center, a project of the Pew Research Center, reports that in families like the Peredas, for whom Spanish is the dominant language among immigrant parents, English fluency increases across generations. By the third generation, Spanish has essentially faded into the background.

According to the Pew report, which analyzed surveys with more than 14,000 Latino immigrants, only 23% of adult first-generation Latinos say they can carry on a conversation very well in English, compared to 88% in the second generation and 94% in the third. Mexicans are the least likely to say they speak English well, which the study's authors attribute in part to a lower educational level.

To put the number in a perspective, about three quarters of the grand parents in immigrant families are unable to understand what their grand kids say.