Languages

One of the most humbling experiences an American (or Australian or Kiwi) can have in Europe is to meet a teenager who speaks three or four languages. For true humiliation, spend a few minutes at the Amsterdam Visitors Bureau and watch the 20-year-old behind the desk switch from Dutch to German to Spanish to English to French and back to Dutch again without batting an eyelash. It’s almost as bad in Scandinavia, where my pitiful efforts in Danish or Swedish are usually met with “How’s it going - anything I can do for you, just let me know, okay?” I know - and have used - all the excuses: the United States and Canada are huge countries, we don’t have as many languages as close to us as Europeans do, and so on.

Those statements are indeed true, but not much help when you’re trying to function and get around in a different culture. The ability to speak a language, even a little, will add tremendously to the enjoyment of visiting a country, and will work wonders when dealing with the local residents. Even a phrasebook or dictionary, especially if you are going to be spending a long time in one country, can be very useful.

By speaking the local language you’re making an obvious effort to reach out, while simultaneously showing respect for the local culture, and that will be noted and appreciated. (Canadians will find their French very useful in this regard, especially if they make it known that they are from Canada.) Also, while it may be true that “everybody speaks English” in the big cities, that will not be the case out in the sticks. Even a single semester or quarter of a language, or an adult school class, is well worth taking. I know how much the moderate amount of Spanish I can speak has meant to me. I once gave my seat on a bus to an older woman in Spain, who refused to take it out of pride. When I managed to say “It’s only because you look like my girlfriend,” her laughter was worth all of those miserable verbs conjugated over the years. I don’t know who said it, but this quote is both beautiful and appropriate: Saber otra Icngua es tener otra alma.To know another language is to possess another soul.