Language

Your command of the language in question, whether it be your own or a foreign tongue, naturally makes a big difference in how well you communicate. Even if the inhabitants of your destination country speak your language in addition to their native language, it is still important to work towards becoming proficient in the language. This is true for two reasons:

• You will gain respect from those with whom you interact if you at least attempt to speak their language. English speaking Frenchmen will gladly start speaking English if you at least attempt to speak French. Even those that don’t speak English will go out of their way to help you upon the first utterance of a French word.

• At some point in time, you will find yourself in surroundings where only the native language is spoken. Not knowing the language can cause real problems, especially in the case of an emergency.

Vocabulary

The more extensive your vocabulary, the easier it will be to communicate. Not only because you know more words, but because you can think of alternative ways to say the same thing in case the words you’re looking for don’t come to mind. In addition, a knowledge of the different uses of words will help you make proper use of words and expressions that have double meanings or mean one thing in one context and another in a different one.

Take Sarah, a fictional visitor to France. Prior to her trip, she decided to learn a bit of French from a language tape. However, she has never spoken to a native French speaker. We now find Sarah enjoying a delicious French meal with some native French speakers. It is towards the end of the main course and one of her acquaintances offers her more food.

“Non, merci. Je suis pleine, “ she replies and then becomes a little bewildered as she notices that her French acquaintances are trying to suppress giggles. Noticing her expression, one of her dinner companions is kind enough to explain the source of their amusement. While Sarah had thought she said, “No thank you. I’m full,” she had really said, “No thank you. I’m pregnant.”

Accent

Your accent can have both positive and negative effects when you’re trying to communicate in a new culture as well as in your own.

People may not be able to understand you if your accent makes the words unclear. This even happens among people from the same country speaking the same language. Think of a northerner trying to understand a person with a real southern drawl. Oftentimes it seems as if they are speaking two different languages. I found this to be true once when the family dog got lost when I was a child living in North Carolina. Luckily, a neighbor found him and called us to inform us of his safety and where he could be found. There was only one problem. She had such a thick Southern accent that it was hard to understand the name of the street. When we finally found it, almost in unison everyone said, “Oh, that’s what she said!”

If an accent can make it hard to understand your own countrymen, you can imagine the difficulties if you are speaking a foreign language. I have a hard time understanding a French speaking friend of mine who slurs his words. He jokes that he has a “southern” French accent. However, I find it much easier to understand Parisians.

People may form an opinion of you simply based on your accent. This opinion could effect the perception of what you have to say; whether it is listened to and respected, or simply laughed at. Northerners and southerners in America are notorious for doing this to each other.

Your accent can have such an effect that some people will go as far as to hire a speech coach to help them lose their accent because they feel that it will somehow hinder their advancement or acceptance in society. Others, who have lived in a foreign country, may adopt that accent because they feel that the foreign accent will help them in one way or another.

Such was the case of a professor who lived in London for many years. When he returned to the United States, he kept his British accent and his British attire. Looking and sounding like the perfect English gentleman, many students (and no doubt others) thought that that was exactly what he was and thus treated him as such. Needless to say, they were shocked to discover that he was from a small town in the United States.

Speech Impediments

Like your accent, anything that obstructs the correct pronunciation of a word can effect how well you are understood. When it comes to a foreign language, this could include the ability to make certain sounds. For example, I cannot, and have never been able to, roll the letter “r.” When speaking English, this does not pose a problem. But, it’s another story when I speak French. Luckily, I’ve learned how to make a sound that is a decent representation of the rolled “r” so, while my pronunciation isn’t perfect, at least people know what I’m trying to say.

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