Language isn’t enough

Let me tell you a story about an American named Sean.

Sean goes to Brazil on business and starts studying Portuguese. After three months of study he makes his first trip to Brazil.

His Portuguese is pretty good for someone who only studied for three months. He has a high level of vocabulary that surprises his friends. His pronunciation is also surprisingly good. Brazilians find him easy to understand.

However, something strange happens whenever he talks with his friends. Sean is a good listener and often shows understanding by saying things like, “I see” and “right.” These words are simple enough for him to translate, so Sean starts saying “Vejo” and “direita” to show understanding of his Brazilian friends. His friends think that he is strange for saying these things, but they just attribute it to him being foreign.

One day Sean meets with a female executive that his company was doing business with. After introductions the woman starts explaining what kind of services her company provides. To show understanding, Sean says “gotcha” but translates it as “pego você.” (I hook up with you) Needless to say, the female executive, a married woman was shocked that he would say something like that.
Language is a tool

Luckily for Sean there was someone there who understood what he meant to say and he was able to explain the situation. But what if there was nobody there to bridge that cultural gap? How would the cross-cultural misunderstanding been resolved?

Stories like this happen all the time. Students learn foreign languages at school or by themselves in a way that is sterile of culture. Without understanding the culture that is underneath the language you can’t say that you’re fluent in that language.

Think of a language like a tool that needs to be plugged in. In order for it to work properly you have to put it in the right socket. Different countries have different outlets, so you might need an adaptor for the tool to work properly. If you try putting it in the wrong outlet, the tool might blow up.

Unfortunately, many people learn a language thinking they can plug their tool into every outlet, only to find out later that they need an adaptor. In order to be understood you need to have the right adaptor. You need to adapt your language to match the culture you are speaking to, and not think that the way you say things back home will work abroad.

Think of a language like a tool that needs to be plugged in. In order for it to work properly you have to put it in the right socket.