磨く: polishing shoes and wanting to hone language skills
Compare polishing leather shoes with a cloth and wanting to hone language skills while working abroad. Read the object alongside the difference between a past action and a wish for development.
Polishing shoes with a cloth
磨く (みがく) includes polish and hone. 「出かける前に革靴を布で磨いた。」 means “I polished my leather shoes with a cloth before going out.” The shoes are the object, the cloth is the means, and the action occurred before going out.
Read the object and means together in this physical use. Polishing shoes does not describe developing language ability or another skill. The example also does not supply detailed cleaning methods, products, or extra materials.
Wanting to hone an ability while working abroad
「海外で働きながら語学力を磨きたい。」 means “I want to hone my language skills while working abroad.” Language ability is the object, so this is skill development rather than polishing a physical surface. Retain the desired connection between working abroad and honing that ability.
The sentence states a wish to hone the skills. It does not report achieved language improvement or completed work abroad. Unlike the past polishing of shoes, this example needs to retain the scope of the wish.
Use the object and the form of the action
With shoes as the object of 磨く, read physical polishing; with language ability as its object, read honing a skill. The object supplies the distinction. Do not treat an ability as though it were another physical surface.
Also check whether the sentence reports an action or expresses a wish. The shoes were polished, while honing language skills is desired. The word does not require daily formal instruction, and the wish does not establish achievement.
Can 「海外で働きながら語学力を磨きたい。」 be read as a report of already improved language skills?
Show the answer and why
No. The object is language ability, so 磨く means honing skills, but the sentence expresses a wish. Unlike the past polishing of shoes, it does not establish achieved improvement or completed work abroad.