Language is key

How many languages do you speak? Or even better: how many languages do you equally good speak? We think that speaking two languages is a must, any additional one is an advantage. Statistics say 40% of the world population knows just one language, their mother tongue. 43% are already able to speak two languages equally fluent and the remaining magical 17% speaks three or more languages equally fluent. In my eyes the last group, they are geniuses, no doubt. But to put our expectation in a framework: worldwide exist more than 6900 spoken languages. 414 (6%) of them - each is spoken by more than one million people. Three languages don't seem to be so much anymore.

In Europe we are very quick in judging people who only know their own mother tongue. We judge those worldwide 40% because we are forced in school to learn a language and when we go on vacation - 1h flight and we are in another country. Both are factors we should highly value and they already show how language and the knowledge around it forms our identity. We are surprised that Americans, so modern and advanced, often only know English. Have you ever looked at a map? To get from the East to the West coast is 6h flight. Hawaii and Alaska even not included. Why the hell should they learn a second language? How often do you travel further away than 6h flight? Beside that how about poor people in the world or woman with limited rights who have no access to education? They are also in the 40% we judge.

(By Jroehl [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], from Wikimedia Commons)

You might see where I wanne get with this. Languages and even only the knowledge about them makes a part of our cultural identification. We should be careful who and why we judge and treat people. Behind every case is a story. I personally speak two languages equally fluent (German and English) and three equally... let's call it engaged trying (Swiss German, Spanish, French). All I started learning in school and then it was my responsibility to take them to the next level. It's definitely work in progress. Languages are for me an important way to learn about other cultures, the people, the traditions. Everything is so tightly connected. And even that I am aware of it, I sometimes so hard fucked up.

When I was in Japan, I took a taxi to the main station. Assuming at least the English basics would work in Tokyo, I didn't really well prepare myself. So I said to the taxi driver "To the main station please". He answered "Tetsudo-eki" - "No. Train station" - "Tetsudo-eki" - "No. Train station". That went back and forth for felt five minutes. Actually, Tetsudo-eki means train station. You see who was the idiot in this moment?The taxi drive did his homework. The cosmopolitan globe traveler from Europe didn't.

My dad lived as a teenager one year in Spain, so it was nearly a have to to also be able to speak Spanish. During vacation in Madrid a few times, I had no problem to get in contact with the people. Of course they sometimes speak a bit fast, or better most of the time, but they were patient with me and it improved from day to day. Taking that self-confidence, I also started to speak Spanish to friends and work colleagues from South America. They all responded in English. One day I was so tired of it, that I asked as a joke if they do it because I am so bad in Spanish. You guess what: that was it. One shock and three glass of wine later, I had to get to the ground of it and my learning was: the words themselves were right, but well it was... High-Spanish and the South American soul and character, the kind they pronounce words were just wrong. Because you can speak, does not mean that it is always appropriate. Try it, but don't be surprised if it doesn't work out.

I am living in Switzerland for the majority of my life, but never stopped speaking High-German. I got the Swiss nationality more than ten years back. A few months ago, I arrived at Zurich Airport. In 2017 roughly 90'000 German lived in the area of Zurich. The city has a population of approx. 1mil. You recognize there are a lot of them, not included mix types like me, and they can often be very dominant. Because of my two large bags, customs was so kind to pick me out for a check. We shortly talked, I told my story about relocation back home and then I had probably one of the worst experiences ever in Switzerland. Customs asked "Could you please show me your residence permit!". Aehm... no. I explained her I am Swiss and can show her my ID, but don't require a residence permit. She swallowed, checked me top-down with a look and let me leave. She didn't want any further papers nor open my bags. She judged because of my language and it made me extremely unconformable. There are a few rules or tips we can take to heart to not be as narrow-minded ourselves independently if we mean it or not:

• Going on business travel or vacation? Prepare a few basics like "thank you", "hello" or "please". It doesn't hurt but shows respect for the culture and the people. Additionally, you don't feel like an idiot placed in the wrong movie.

• Be aware of details. Is the person you talk to German or Swiss? Spanish or Catalan? British or Irish? The details matter and can guide you in doing the right thing.

• Inclusion is key. If you are a group of people, if privately or at work, speak a language everybody can understand. Once you switch to a language only a few can, you exclude people on purpose, make them unwanted and give them no chance for integration.

• Language is not nationality. So much changed on the world map in the past 150 years. Not all languages grew from nationalities but from history, like Yiddish.

• It's time intense, I know, but if you have the chance: learn a language. Even if it is only for fun. You will get insights you never had before. Use they mainly nouns and direct, harsh words? Or is it a soft, describing articulation? The more effort you put in, the more desire you develop to use the leanings.

Last but not least and most important: don't rely on technology. I know there are those fancy tools and apps that translate live and allow whole conversations in-person and virtually. Word is getting much better, can correct typos and grammar and probably soon auto-complete sentences. But if you use all those little helps without having your own created foundation, you will never find the nuances that make languages such an important and interesting representation of culture.