The world is getting smaller. Thanks to high speed travel and the internet, people are able to connect on an unprecedented scale. We are now constantly exposed to different cultures than the ones we are born into, which makes our lives much richer and more interesting. This can also present some challenges, as our cultures and languages differ, and we sometimes struggle to communicate with those from different places and backgrounds.
I have been working on cruise ships for the past five years. It is uncommon for Americans to work on the ships, so most of my coworkers and friends onboard are from other countries. Most of them speak at least two languages: their native language and English.
Thanks to imperialism, English has sort of become the default language. English is the language of the internet, and was the only language we were allowed to speak in front of guests on the ship so they wouldn't think we were talking about them. Almost everyone in the hospitality industry worldwide speaks at least a little English, so (in my experience) you are almost always able to comfortably order food or pay your bill in English. This is sometimes useful, especially when people from different countries are interacting. But this has also caused native English speakers to become complacent. After all, why should we have to learn another language when the whole world is already catering to us?
This is particularly evident in our American school system. Most elementary schools do not have foreign language programs. When students are finally exposed to other languages in middle school or high school, these classes are often elective, so barely any of the student body will graduate with fluency in more than one language. In other countries around the world, learning a second (and sometimes third or fourth) language is an expectation of the educational system, while in America, this learning must be self driven.
I was first exposed to speaking Spanish in middle school. We were required to take one quarter of Spanish and one of French, along with our other supplementary classes like art. I won't say I fell in love with the language, but I understood its practicality. I knew that Maine had a rising Spanish-speaking population, and I wanted to be able to communicate with them, so I elected to take Spanish in high school as well. I had an excellent teacher (shout out to Mr. Fox!), but four semesters of education was not enough to become nearly as fluent in Spanish as I was in English, or as I wanted to be.
Life got in the way for a while, and without the pressure of being surrounded by native Spanish speakers, I fell out of practice. Suddenly, a global pandemic hit, and I (like many others in my industry) found myself with an unprecedented amount of free time. I figured I could use a brush up on my Spanish, so I downloaded Duolingo.
Duolingo is a free language learning app. Users are guided through activities that involve speech, listening, reading, and writing to develop vocabulary and grammar skills. The app focuses first on vocabulary and activities that may be useful while traveling. Duolingo users (myself included) can be a little cult-like in their devotion to maintaining their practice streak. While Duolingo is not as effective as a qualified language teacher, it is less expensive and more accessible to busy (or quarantining) adults.
The many faces of the Duolingo Owl, who harasses you daily to remind you to practice.
I was soon very committed to my Duolingo usage, practicing my Spanish skills every night before bed. My family got involved as well: both my parents downloaded the app and started studying Spanish too. Soon enough, we were texting each other in broken Spanish, learning new phrases together, and speaking Spanish around the house and to the dog. Having the common goal of learning a new language together brought me closer to my parents during a very challenging time.
When I finally went back to work on the cruise ships, I noticed that my new language skills made me more confident when travelling to other countries. I was able to communicate to Spanish speakers in ports of call, and help my friends to order food or go shopping. I was also able to help guests onboard who weren't as comfortable speaking English. Even though my Spanish is nowhere near perfect, people are always appreciative of the effort I am making. I feel like my world has become more vibrant as my understanding of more people increases.
Last Fall, I started rehearsals for a new cruise contract. The performers on my new team were from many different countries. For most of them, English is their first language, but for some, it is their second or third. We conducted rehearsals in English, because that's what everyone spoke.
One of my cast mates, Xola, who is one of the most amazing people you will ever meet, is from South Africa, and his first language is Xhosa. Xhosa is one of the eleven official languages of South Africa, and is the second most common first language in the country. During a break in rehearsals early on, he was on the phone to his sister and speaking in Xhosa. When he got off the phone, he made an offhand comment about how much he missed speaking Xhosa and hearing it spoken, since he was constantly speaking and surrounded by English in rehearsals.
That night, I went home and I decided that I could at least learn how to say "good morning" in Xhosa, so I could greet him the next day and hopefully make him smile. After some intense googling, I learned that "good morning" was not a common greeting in Xhosa, and that they are more likely to use "hello, how are you?", which translates to "molo, unjani?". I also learned to say "good morning" in Russian (I can't type in cyrillic but phonetically it sounds like "dobroye ootra") to greet another cast mate Alex, from Moldova. Armed with these new phrases, I headed to rehearsals the next morning to greet my cast mates.
Our talented multi-cultural cast, representing 7 different countries.
The effect was amazing. Even with my poor pronunciation and limited knowledge, they still appreciated the effort I had made to meet them where they are at, and learn just a tiny bit of their preferred method of communication. I realized how scary it must be to not speak your most comfortable language in the workplace, and to not be the default all the time. They had to put in all of this hidden labor to communicate at work, while I was just the default.
Soon, we had another cast mate arrive (Vlad, from Ukraine) who also spoke Russian, which was great because then Alex had someone to talk to (and rehearse with) in his native language. But Xola had no one to speak Xhosa with, so I decided to learn.
I turned to my trusty Duolingo for a first resource. While I found that the Xhosa course was incomplete, it was more than enough to get a complete beginner like myself started. I started learning simple words and phrases to try and use with Xola in conversation. I was also really lucky to be working with a native speaker, since Xola taught me things that the app couldn't even touch. (For example, the "X", "Q", and "C" are all clicked with your tongue, but the different letters indicate different tongue positions that produce different sounds. The "X" is clicked with your tongue on the roof of your mouth right behind your front teeth. Xola said to think of calling a horse, which is apparently instinctive since, even though I haven't had a lot of contact with horses, that made perfect sense.) I was committed to practicing every day. While I am not fluent in Xhosa yet, between Duolingo and the power of friendship, I hope to be someday.
Me and Xola, pictured during and after our last lyrical duet.
Even though our contract has now ended, I continue to practice Xhosa every day, so that someday, when I can finally visit Xola in South Africa, I will be able to speak to him and his family in their language. Although I think I might have more of a challenge ahead of me than I thought originally: while Xhosa is his first language, Xola speaks seven languages!
This brings me to today's Small Change. If you have a smartphone, download Duolingo today and start learning another language. Commit just a few minutes every day to learning to communicate with more people. Find people in your life who are constantly speaking their second language to you, and make an effort to learn to communicate to them in their first language. You may not be perfect at it for a very long time, but the people around you will appreciate the efforts you are making, and will help you along the way. If we all put in this small effort, we can make the world a better place by improving our communication skills and demonstrating our care for others.
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