職場新迷茫 讀MBA還是學中文

I’m 30 and my career is at a crossroads. I am contemplating doing an MBA but horrified by the cost (£42,000 at one school) and no one has been able to explain exactly what it is you learn. The reason I would do one is for the connections I would make. Instead, I am contemplating learning Mandarin as it would look better on my CV. I think I could get to an advanced level of oral fluency within a year for £5,000. Which would be the better investment?

我今年30歲，職業生涯正處於一個十字路口。我在考慮攻讀一個MBA學位，但被天價學費（某個學校竟然達到4.2萬英鎊）嚇壞了，而且沒有人能夠解釋你究竟將學到什麼。如果我去讀這樣的課程，我的動機將是拓展人脈。另外一個選擇是：我在考慮學習中文，因爲這會讓我的簡歷更加漂亮。我相信，我能在一年內達到口語流利的高級水平，而學費爲5000英鎊。哪一種投資更好？

Property executive, male, 30

房地產主管，男，30歲

Lucy’s answer

露西的回答

The short answer is do the MBA. It pains me to offer this advice, as no one has been able to explain to me exactly what it is you learn either. So to spend so much acquiring information that is neither obviously interesting nor useful might seem pretty silly.

簡單的答案是攻讀MBA。提供這個建議讓我痛苦，因爲也沒有人能向我解釋你究竟將學到什麼。因此，要砸這麼多錢獲取既不明顯有趣、也未必有用的信息可能貌似很蠢。

You say the point would be the connections, but that’s only part of the story. The true point of an MBA is to ally yourself to a brand that will look pretty on your CV. The more exclusive (and expensive) the brand, the prettier.

你說關鍵將是人脈，但那只是故事的一部分。MBA學位的真正意義是讓自己加盟一個品牌，這個品牌在簡歷上會很漂亮。品牌越是獨家（而且昂貴），就越漂亮。

Last month the FT published data showing that if you go to a top business school you are likely to double your salary within three years of graduation. So if you go to Harvard or Stanford – whose two-year MBAs cost almost twice as much as the £42,000 you quote – you stand to earn about $180,000 a year on average three years after leaving, which will repay your loans quickly.

上月英國《金融時報》發表的數據顯示，如果你去一所頂級商學院，你在畢業後的三年內有望實現薪資翻番。所以，如果你去哈佛(Harvard)或斯坦福(Stanford)的商學院——其兩年制MBA課程的成本幾乎兩倍於你提到的4.2萬英鎊——你在畢業3年後有望賺取每年大約18萬美元的薪資，這樣你很快就能償還貸款。

By comparison, learning Mandarin is one of the worst investment ideas I’ve ever heard. It is hellishly difficult. Despite your flair for languages you won’t get anywhere near fluent in a year,

相比之下，學習中文是我聽過的最糟糕的投資主意之一。中文難學得要命。即使你有語言天賦，你也不會在一年裏達到接近流利的水平，3、4年後，你仍然會掙扎。好消息是，你已經擁有了在中國工作的語言資本：英語仍然是全球商業語言。

and after three or four years you will still be struggling. The good news is that you already have the linguistic wherewithal to work in China: English remains the language of global business.

學習中文的唯一意義將是出於一般興趣。如果你打算在什麼地方生活，能說當地語言意味着你將活得更精彩。掌握極難學會的東西也可能帶來成就感。只是不要指望這能帶來更好的工作。

The only point of learning Mandarin would be out of general interest. If you plan to live somewhere, speaking the language means you have a richer time. There might also be the satisfaction that comes from mastering something really hard. What there would not be is a ticket to a better job.

你說你的職業生涯正處在一個十字路口。聽起來卻好像是在一個死衚衕，你正在四處打探，希望找到一個不同的方向。在你打定主意之前，你可能想知道，自己的躍躍欲試可不可以用一些更簡單、更便宜的方式來解決？找一份不同的工作怎麼樣？如果你真的一籌莫展，去商學院將提供兩年時間，讓你遇見不同背景的人，或許有助於你決定自己下一步最想征服哪一個行業和哪一個國家。