Apr

Five Sure-Fire Ways to Break the Language Barrier

by Eva Boynton on April 13, 2015

A circle of people's hands holding coffee on a table with an image of the world in the middle, showing the connections formed by breaking the language barrier. (Image © Wavebreak Media/Thinkstock )

Dive into cross-cultural connections by bringing a bridge language to the table.
© Wavebreak Media/Thinkstock

Find Your Own Lingua Franca

My best travel connections have had little to do with making a flight and everything to do with making friends.

Like many, I was intimidated by the idea of traveling in a country where my language is not spoken. But I took off anyway and found ways to communicate with local citizens, establishing a kind of lingua franca, or bridge language, that neither of us spoke.

Soon I was breaking the language barrier and making the kind of personal connections that become the best souvenirs. Here are my top five strategies.

1. Let Your Smile Do the Talking

India is a country of many languages (780 recorded by People’s Linguistic Survey). When I encountered Bengali, Hindi, Punjabi, and other languages unfamiliar to me, I learned the power of a smile.

Drawing of a face on a plate with an apple and an orange slice for eyes and a banana for a mouth, showing how a smile can break the language barrier. (Image © Eva Boynton)

From child to adult, everyone responds to a smile.
© Eva Boynton

This first “Oh, I see” moment happened in Amritsar, in a nook from which I was drawing the Golden Temple. After 10 minutes, a crowd encircled me. My grand view of the temple had shrunk to a sliver of gold in a sea of legs.

Suddenly, the crowd dispersed, and I looked up to see a Sikh temple guard wearing an orange turban, blue uniform, and a stern expression. He was waving a spear.

After the last onlookers shuffled away, the guard met my eyes and his intimidating frown turned to a magnificent smile. I smiled back. He continued his guard’s walk around the temple, and I resumed drawing.

It continued like this for the next hour: crowd formed, guard passed by, spear waved, smiles exchanged. Our smiles went miles to establish a connection that I’ll always remember—a connection between people from opposite backgrounds across a cultural divide.

2. Describe with a Drawing

Getting directions in Calcutta is easy. Everyone is willing to give their two cents, offering hand gestures and a grand array of “right!” and “left!” But I have a knack for forgetting verbal instructions. And in India, the person who knows the way may well speak Hindi or Bengali.

My solution became scrap paper and napkin maps. This proved to be an inclusive method: anyone—English, Hindi, or Bengali speakers alike—could draw with me, sharing a pencil and clarifying meaning back and forth.

A hand holding a piece of paper with a map and another hand holding a pencil, showing a method of communication and breaking the language barrier. (image © Eva Boynton)

Always keep paper and pencil in your pocket—handy tools
for drawing lines, connecting people.
© Eva Boynton

Not only did this strategy break the language barrier, but it also broke the ice. What started as a request for directions ended up as a way to meet and enjoy new people.

3. Greet and Meet

Drawing of signpost with signs of "hello" in different languages, showing another way to break the language barrier. (Image © Eva Boynton)

Sign of a global citizen: using greetings like these in Swahili, Hindi, German, English, and Cherokee.
© Eva Boynton

My next sure-fire strategy is to meet people part-way.

When you visit another country, read up on its traditions, language, geography, and culture before you go, and learn words for common courtesies such as hello, goodbye, please, and thank you.

I find people are often pleased and surprised when you know phrases in their language. Often, they know some English and my hello opens the door to a further connection.

Europe is a tightly packed continent where one day on a train can mean crossing several countries (and languages). On a short trip, my efforts paid off even when I accidentally swapped languages.

On my first day in Italy, after visiting France and Spain, I thanked a waitress for dinner by stuttering, “Merci! Gracias! Thank you . . . Grazie!” My head was buzzing with different languages. Overhearing my bizarre effort, a table of locals invited me over and we talked until dawn about the flux of culture, language and travel in Europe. It was a night to remember.

4. Say It a Different Way

Traveling in Mexico, I relied on my rusty high school Spanish. There were times when, tongue-tied, I hit the wall. In an “Oh, I see” moment, I learned to try different ways to say the same thing.

My friend and I were at a market in Guadalajara shopping for dinner ingredients. The key was ground meat, and it was my job to find it. I searched my brain, but couldn’t find the Spanish words. At the meat counter, I asked for carne de hamburguesa (hamburger meat) and received a patty.

I took the patty to my friend, hoping it would suffice and I could avoid further chagrin. But no, he sent me and the patty back. I tried different descriptions: carne de espaguetis (spaghetti meat) and carne en tiras (meat in strips).

As I rambled on, the men behind the counter started guessing, and we began a hysterical game of charades. In this game, it was as important to listen as to speak.

A girl playing charades, illustrating a strategy to break the language barrier (Image © Eva Boynton)

When in doubt, try any words you know . . . and charades!
© Eva Boynton

Finally, we got to the answer together: carne molida de res. It felt like the buzzer went off—“Ding! Ding! Ding!“—and an announcer declared, “Step on up to accept your $10,000 prize!”

In the end, a little embarrassment was a small price to pay for the prize of connection. I returned to that meat counter throughout my stay in Guadalajara to visit, laugh, make mistakes, and buy carne molida de res.

#5 Make Friends with a Language Broker

When you meet fellow travelers or expats who speak your language, inquire what other languages they speak. This one question can widen your world. An invitation to a soirée where two people speak English, two speak French, and one speaks both languages means—thanks to the broker—everyone can communicate!

A drawing of tin cans connected by a string, demonstrating a way to break a language barrier with a language broker. (image/© Eva Boynton)

Call on a language broker to make connections.
© Eva Boynton

In Calcutta, I volunteered at one of Mother Teresa’s hospices. I learned by watching since neither patients, workers nor volunteers spoke English.

After several days of silently watching and doing, I met my language broker: a volunteer from the Canary Islands, bilingual in Spanish and French. We began a “telephone game” with the volunteers; from Spanish to French, French to German, German to Swiss, Swiss to Italian, Italian to Hindi.

Connecting the group through language brokers strengthened our team and friendships. We were a symphony of languages searching for the same rhythm.

Rewards of Bridging the Gap

The world is big and small at the same time. And the language barriers are real. Learning another language can take you farther into a culture, but try my five lingua franca strategies to move you out of the comfortable American bubble when you travel.

At the very least, you will crack the language barrier and come home with connections to people from around the world. That’s the everlasting souvenir.

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Eva Boynton 1 Comment

Crossing Cultures/Language & Culture

Jul

Life Changes When A Brain Goes Bilingual

by Sheron Long on July 29, 2014

Shape of the Western hemisphere in an eye, illustrating how life changes and the world view expands for people with a bilingual brain. (Image © Stockbyte)

Oh, how the view of your world expands!
© Stockbyte

Power Up! Know the 6 “Warming” Signs

The bilingual brain is hot! Powered by two or more languages, it leads to a series of life changes. Should you embark on this adventure, recognize the 6 “warming” signs and get set to become a different person.

#1 You Start to Zag

Growing up, you get pretty good at zigging, doing things the usual way. But once you start communicating in a second language, you have to find fast work-arounds. The very thing you want to say requires a word you don’t yet know.

Maybe you want to invite a friend to the beach, but you can’t recall the Spanish word for beach (playa), so you think on your sandals and say (in Spanish): Let’s find some sand. Or, Let’s go down by the water. Or, To Acapulco!

Acapulco beach, discovered while trying to build bilingual brain power in Mexico. Image © Erkki Tamsalu / iStock)

The beach in Acapulco—worth getting there!
© Erkki Tamsalu / iStock

When you’re learning a language, you do this over and over and over again. Pretty soon, an important concept sinks in: If you’re stuck and can’t solve the problem in one way, you can always solve it in another.

Then you start approaching all of life’s problems, big and small, in a flexible way—zigging when you can, zagging when you can’t.

#2 You Take More Risks

Anyone new to a language knows it’s a risk to open your mouth and talk. We all have our stories, like the time my husband expressed appreciation to our French friend Françoise: Merci, Frambroise! (Thanks, Raspberry!)

But it’s the unabashed courage to keep on talking that finally blesses you with a bilingual brain. Along the way, you learn that people are pretty understanding, and you figure out how to get yourself out of trouble.

All that leads to speaking up more, to trying new approaches without the fear of failure because you know one of your next risks will work out well.

#3 You Turn on a Dime

Once multiple languages fill your head, your brain has to activate and prioritize the one that’s needed.

Man's head showing his bilingual brain at work as he switches back and forth between two languages. (Image © Vectoraart / iStock)

The bilingual brain gets stronger
as it toggles between languages.
© Vectoraart / iStock

You find yourself speaking in English to one person and then turn on a dime to communicate with someone else in Spanish.

Your brain gets fast and facile at choosing the right body of words and setting the unneeded language aside.

In fact, you may use both languages at once when you talk to another bilingual, choosing the word from whichever language best conveys your idea.

Judith Kroll calls this “language juggling.” She reports on research showing how all this switching back and forth makes you better at multi-tasking, focusing, and prioritizing—all skills of value in other aspects of life and work.

#4 You Double Your Pleasure

Speak English, and you can talk to about 500 million people in the world. Learn Spanish, and you can talk to over 400 million more. More languages, more friends.

More fun, too, discovering the riches of a culture—so much new food, art, music, and tradition to enjoy.

Slices of a starfruit, native to the Philippines, illustrating how life changes with the tastes of a new culture. (Image © Quanthem / iStock)

Taste the carambola, or starfruit, and taste part
of the Philippine culture.
© Quanthem / iStock

And, if you like to play with language, you’ll have a whole new repertoire.

The French Voilà says something that’s hard to convey in English, and it has dozens of daily uses, like other words worth borrowing.

Other languages may have just the right word for your special someone. Instead of Honey, how about the Spanish Mi vida (my life) or the French Ma puce (my flea)?

#5 You Lose That Notion of “One Way”

In the US, people drive on the right; in Britain, on the left. But everyone gets around. As you become bilingual, you learn more about culture, too, seeing the truth in this Italian proverb: Many roads lead to Rome. Now you’re freed up for creative problem-solving!

And, more than likely, you’ll embrace someone else’s idea when you see it’s better. In France, les rondpoints (traffic circles) keep cars moving much better than the US intersections with 4-way stops.

Traffic circle in Tarascon, France, illustrating a life-changing idea more likely to be accepted by someone with a bilingual brain. (Image © Sheron Long)

French rondpoints are pretty and practical.
© Sheron Long

The French bullet trains connect cities as far apart as San Francisco and LA in 2.5 hours. Well, rondpoints and bullet trains weren’t hatched in the USA, but why not try them here?

#6 You See Life from Multiple Perspectives

Language is often the portal to a deeper understanding of a culture, an awareness of how people come at life in both the same and different ways.

Blurry clock face showing how different cultures think about the time. (Image © Hayatikayhan / iStock)

Time blurs in some cultures, and in others
it’s the focus: See you at 10 sharp!
© Hayatikayhan / iStock

Take time, for example. One perspective is that time is linear, useful for making and keeping to a schedule.

Another is that it’s more important to fill time well. Why head to a scheduled event when the present one isn’t satisfyingly over?

Attitudes toward time are deeply rooted in culture, so much so that invitations may give the start time of an event, followed by hora latina (Latin time) or hora inglesa (English time).

Just the assignment of a gender to every noun in Spanish, French, and Italian is a clue to cultural attitudes, though sometimes confusing.

Why is a word like necklace masculine in Spanish—el collar—and a word like beard feminine—la barba?

And why is fork masculine in Spanish (el tenedor) and feminine in French (la fourchette)?

After shifting in such fundamental ways when you step into another culture or speak a second language, you begin to appreciate that perspectives are not necessarily better or worse, just different. And that alone helps with all kinds of relationships, even those closest to home.

Ready to Build Your Bilingual Brain Power?

It’s easier than you may think. Foreign movies. Online courses. Volunteer travel. Bilingual forums. World music and songs. And soon your life changes.

Even if you don’t master your second language, you may have an experience like William Alexander’s. He flirted with French and failed, but he did see a huge increase in his scores on a test of cognitive power. As he told the New York Times, “Studying a language had been like drinking from a mental fountain of youth.”

Such an “Oh, I see” moment supports research studies on the benefits of bilingualism for improving memory and delaying dementia. If you don’t build your bilingual brain for the love of language and culture, power it up for the love of life!

Beach sandals, symbolizing how life changes when you take the road to building bilingual brain power. (Image © Oksancia / iStock)

Have fun!
Zig or zag your
way to a bilingual brain!
© Oksancia / iStock

For more on the benefits of a bilingual brain, including what people say they value most about being bilingual, see Dr. Neel Burton’s essay in Psychology Today. For a fun perspective on learning a new language, enjoy Flirting with French by William Alexander.

Comment on this post below.

Sheron Long 4 Comments

Becoming Bilingual/Cultural Diversity/Language & Culture

Mar

Same Animal + Different Cultures = Surprise!

by Bruce Goldstone on March 13, 2014

Falling cat, illustrating animal sayings that vary in different cultures and languages. (Image © deshy / iStock)

“If this is Life #7, I sure hope I’m an English-speaking cat!”
© deshy / iStock

Animal Symbols and Sayings

All over the world, cats are known for their seemingly magical ability to escape dangers that would be fatal to other, less feline species. But different cultures and languages vary in how they talk about kitty’s special talents.

English speakers describe their death-defying trickiness by saying cats have nine lives. Consider 9Lives cat food, and its spokescat Morris, who vouch for the statistic.

Cats have the same reputation in Spanish, but in that language, they get only 7 lives. Are cats in Spanish-speaking cultures really less resilient than those where English is spoken? No, cats are cats, but the animal symbols and sayings across cultures may be quite different.

When you cross cultures, it’s a good idea to understand the differences so you don’t make a monkey out of yourself. Here’s some help with other critters in the animal kingdom.

Who’s Wise?

In ancient Greece, the wise goddess Athena was often depicted with or represented by an owl. That literary tradition plus the stately stare of the owl made this bird a symbol for wisdom in most Western cultures.

Wise-looking owl, representing wisdom, an animal symbol that varies in different cultures and languages. (Image © lingkuo / iStock)

But not everyone thinks owls are all that clever. In India, the owl’s stare is considered dopey rather than penetrating, leading to its reputation as a dim-wit. In fact, the Hindi word for owl— oolu—can also mean dolt, idiot, or fool.

Dopey-looking owl, reflecting an animal symbol that varies in different cultures and languages. (© Catherine Philip/iStock)

And in the Netherlands, owls are a symbol of being stubborn, uncooperative, and inflexible. There’s a Dutch saying that goes Wat baten kaars en bril, als den uil niet zienen wil? (What difference do light and glasses make, if the owl doesn’t want to see?)

Interpreting the Turtle

For many English speakers, turtles are symbols of slowness, persistence, and determination.

Turtle moving slowly, reflecting an animal symbol that varies in different cultures and languages. (© nwhaa / iStock)

But in, Thailand, turtles are associated with something very different. Watch this ad and see if you can figure out why it makes sense.

If the video does not display, watch it here.

Yep—that’s an ad for deodorant because turtle in Thai is slang for body odor.

Monkey Business

In some Western countries, monkeys are playful tricksters. English speakers talk about monkeying around, monkey business, and more fun than a barrel of monkeys.

What do you talk about when you talk about monkeys? © Hung_Chung_Chih/iStock

But other cultures perceive the monkey in a far different way. In Portuguese, monkeys carry an element of sudden surprise. To express astonishment, a Brazilian might say Macacos me mordam! (Monkeys bite me!) It’s like saying “Well, I’ll be damned!” Or, if you ever watched the old Batman TV series, think of Robin’s ever-changing catchphrase of surprise, “Holy [fill-in-the-blank], Batman!”

Regal monkeys, reflecting an animal symbol that varies in different cultures and languages. (© fatchoi / iStock)

In China, however, monkeys aren’t silly or surprising. They’re clever and noble. At one time, the Chinese title marquis and the word for monkey had the same pronunciation: “hou.” So, in China, the monkey is associated with dignity, social position, and intelligence.

Silken Sayings

Some cultures express the same advice or wisdom in an animal saying, but the animals are different. For example, in English, there’s this saying: You can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear.

A pig's ear, reflecting animal sayings that vary in different cultures and languages. (Image © Morgan David de Lossy / iStock)

In Spanish, a saying about monkeys is pretty much the same: Aunque la mona se vista de seda, mona se queda. (A monkey that dresses in silk is still a monkey).

A baboon in a scarf, reflecting animal sayings that vary in different cultures and languages. (© fuse / Thinkstock)

Animal Anticipation

In English, to caution against making plans for something good until it really happens, people say: Don’t count your chickens before they hatch.

Chick and eggs, reflecting animal sayings that vary in different cultures and languages. (© gpointstudio / iStock)

In Russia, people express pretty much the same sentiment: не дели шкуру неубитого медведя. (Don’t sell the pelt before the bear’s been shot.) Similar sayings show up in French-Canadian, Danish, Swedish, and Polish.

Brown bear, illustrating animal sayings that vary in different cultures and languages. (© dgwildlife / iStock)

You Don’t Have to Be Real to Play

Different cultures even have different views of imaginary animals. In Western countries, dragons are usually fierce fire-breathing monsters that ravage villages and torment princesses. Something worthy of slaying. But in China and many Asian countries, they’re considered very good luck. Something worthy of celebrating in joyful dances.

Boy hugging Chinese dragon, reflecting an animal symbol that varies in different cultures and languages. (© Digital Vision / Photodisc)

Oh, I see— Manners, taboos, and animals, too, are all part of understanding different cultures and languages. The symbols and sayings that may seem universal are often not. You might think about that the next time the cat’s got your tongue—because in Spanish, they’d blame your silence on mice: ¿El ratón te comió la lengua? (The mouse ate your tongue?)

♦♦♦

For more cross-cultural insights that will make you culture-smart, see “How Much Power’s in a Flower?” and “The Musical Scale Across Cultures.” To get a language fact a day, connect with @languagebandit.

Video of the Thai deodorant commercial VIA The Zealous Water Buffalo.