I was living in Switzerland and working with an interdenominational mission agency. My wife and I had been “musicianaries” for a number of years, based in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Although the official language of The Netherlands is Dutch, the lingua franca of our organization was English. In fact, Amsterdam is such an international hub that many of its residents are foreign nationals who use English, whether it is their mother tongue or not. If you are a non-Dutch speaker, you have to go out of your way to learn Dutch, as almost all Dutch — certainly the younger generation as well as most Amsterdammers — speak English and love to practice it. Being a bit of a language freak myself, I did go that extra mile and became conversant.
Now, in the French-speaking part of Switzerland, we were part of a music ministry that was primarily focused on the francophone world — not only Switzerland and France, but also Belgium, Québec, and much of French-speaking Africa. Most of the team members were native French speakers from France and Switzerland, including a young Swiss lady, Christine, whom I already knew and had toured with in the past.
Christine was dating a guy named François, a gifted Swiss singer and musician, who knew almost no English, except for technical and musical terms that are frequently exported to other languages — words like software, keyboard, etc. François was also a little crusty; it wasn’t the easiest thing in the world to get to know him, and certainly not if you were an American. Not that he hated Americans — he just had an understandable “attitude” toward loud-talking Americans who swooped in to save the day.
Fortunately, I had majored in French, and had already spent two years in Switzerland ten years earlier, when I had become fluent. When I sensed François’s reticence, I began gently reaching out.
Fast forward a couple of years. François and Christine were now married and became some of my closest friends. And the three of us collaborated on a recording that turned into a series of four albums. Our friendship continues to this day, and I count François among my closest friends on the planet.
I sincerely believe this friendship would not have developed the way it did had I not been capable of communicating with him on a level beyond simple greetings.
Having said that…
…there is also much to be said for learning those very things — simple greetings and other basic words and phrases — in order to establish a bridge with someone of another tongue. And you don’t have to wait till an overseas experience to start. Chances are, wherever you live — whether in a metropolis or a small town — there is a significant immigrant population. Many have yet to master English (see photo), and sometimes all it takes is a simple greeting in their language to make their day.
We have a favorite gyro shop in our neighborhood, run by mostly Arabs from different countries, but also Kurds. I love the grin on their faces when I greet them in Arabic. I don’t know much Arabic at all, but a little can go a long way in building good will. And do you know of a community that couldn’t use a little of that?
My wife and I lead cultural tours, comprised largely of home school students, to a number of countries in Western Europe. We make it a point to teach our travelers a few key words and phrases in the language of each country we visit, at the very least as a matter of respect and honoring our host culture.
Many English speakers view foreign language as nothing but a pain — if they give it any thought at all. But home school families have to think about it, at least in most American states, where a certain number of foreign language credits are required for high school graduation.
I teach foreign languages to home school students, both locally and online, and yes, I teach them all the grammar and all the vocabulary, with high academic standards. But I do my best to remind them often that I’m not teaching them French or Spanish just so they can check off a box; I’m there to equip them with an invaluable tool in their belt: the ability to communicate with other humans from different backgrounds, thereby building significant bridges and expanding their own horizons in the process.
After all, isn’t that why we homeschool? To equip our students for life and not just for college?
Written in collaboration with World to the Wise
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