What’s happening?

A compelling reason to learn the language of another culture is to be able to communicate with the people. The attempt to speak in the host country’s language is a sign of respect of their culture and individual worth. Just making the effort to speak in the local language says something about you.

When we live somewhere where we do not speak the language, it increases our anxiety. I am sure many of you have had the experience of going to a shop and leaving without the item you wanted -- just because you could not explain what you wanted.

When I lived in West Berlin, if I found what I liked in the supermarket, I would cut and save the labels so that the next time I went shopping I could spot the item on the shelf easier.

Some advantages of learning the language are:

-- It provides you with a sense of security and wellbeing.

-- It helps you understand better what is going on around you.

-- It gives you more self-esteem.

-- It gives you insights into the culture because you know how people express themselves.

Let’s just briefly consider the last advantage:

A number of foreigners comment on the phrase “Allah korusun” (God protect), which they see written on minibuses, and wonder what it means. If they’ve ridden on a minibus and are then told what the expression means, they understand the need for it! Minibus drivers have got to be the most unsafe drivers in the world.

Have you ever noticed how often Turks and Arabs use the expression “inşallah,” Arabic for “God willing”? This is automatically added to any statement about the future implying a sense of hope that it will happen.

English, on the other hand, is limited in describing family members. If you’ve been to America, have you ever heard a young person use the expression “my old man”? It’s an informal use for dad. Some people may think it is disrespectful, but for the youth, it may be endearing.

Also Americans only have the words “aunt” and “uncle” and are usually totally confused when they come across a foreign language that has more than one word for either of these! What does that show about American culture?

Did you know that some languages have a myriad of nouns for family members? I thought Turkish was bad and then someone told me Nepali has four words for uncle!

Expats who cannot speak the local language and whose neighbors and colleagues can’t speak theirs may feel less at ease in the culture. When we can understand the language, we may pick up on comments made that give us an insight into the other person’s behavior or action (or in some cases, lack of action!). Sometimes we judge locals inappropriately because we do not fully understand.

We all know the experience of asking about when something will be in stock and the shop owner says “yarın” (tomorrow). Westerners, of course, take this literally while the shopkeeper probably only meant that the item will be in stock the next day if possible, but he can’t offer any guarantees.

If you’d like to learn more Turkish, here are a couple of suggestions from some who have learned Turkish well:

Marion James, in her article “Words, Words, Words” about dictionaries, says, “Whatever your level, get equipped with a good dictionary that will shed light on words you don’t know, encourage you to learn new ones and stretch your vocabulary one level further.”

“Language wasn’t meant to be learned in an academic setting!” says, Peter Pikkert, the brain behind the Language Acquisition for Cross-Cultural Effectiveness (LACE) method. The basic premise of the method is this: Children are the world’s best language learners. And how do they learn? -- by asking questions and by having context-related language experiences. Pikkert recommends hiring a language helper -- not a teacher, but a native speaker who has a good accent and pronunciation and who can be led by their foreign partner.

If it is a different language you need to come to grips with, you still need a good dictionary and the principles of LACE can be used.

Charles Allen, born in India, where six generations of his family served under the British Raj, wrote several books on colonial life in India. Allen writes, “Learning a foreign language was the best thing that ever happened to people who went out to India, and those who failed to do so remained forever at a distance from the land and its people.”

Don’t be left out because you don’t speak any of the language!