“Is it difficult to live somewhere else with the language barrier?”
It seems like a pretty simple question, but in reality it’s difficult to really say yes or no either way because for English speakers this “language barrier” isn’t as thick as it used to be, contrary to popular belief.
At university, professors and French students are discouraged from speaking English with American students, as are host families and tour guides on excursions. But there are waiters, storeowners and strangers who eagerly switch the conversation to English if they have the chance, not because they don’t want us to speak French, but because they want to practice their English — and to be quite honest, sometimes their English is a lot better than our French.
In Marseille, a waiter at a nice restaurant knew how to speak German, English, Spanish and Italian, on top of his native language, French.
In Barcelona, almost all of the employees of the local businesses and restaurants spoke English, Spanish and Catalan.
Which leads to a very important point: Speaking in a different language does not give someone the right to talk about somebody else.
It really seems like a rule that shouldn’t need to be said, but somewhere between elementary school and adulthood a lot of people forget about it.
Not only is it not nice, it’s also not very smart. In a world where it is becoming more and more important to speak other languages, it isn’t wise to simply believe one can say whatever they want because they won’t be understood.
Au contraire, I know very well when French students make comments about our group or about me. One girl on a train literally said, “Don’t worry, they don’t understand me” when her friend said to quiet down about how much we had apparently pissed her off.
But this isn’t just natives picking on foreigners. Many a foreigner is just as guilty, like the American on the Barcelona metro, of being loud, obnoxious and altogether vulgar. Now, did the girl he was talking about know what he was saying? Probably not, but she didn’t have to. She knew it was bad.
Would he have said the same things had he known that I had understood it all? I would like to say no, but who knows. Maybe he’s just a jerk.
There are many international students at OU. There are also many students who choose or will choose to study abroad. Whatever the case may be, hopefully this is a reminder to all students that the people around you can comprehend a great deal more than you might give them credit for, whether you are an international student at Ohio or somewhere else.
This is for the native students too, there is no reason to speak about international students as if they aren’t there or can’t understand. Just because they may not respond doesn’t mean they didn’t comprehend what you said.
Just remember, if you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.
Danielle Limon is a freshman studying journalism and a columnist for The Post. Can you literally understand this? Email her at dl119510@ohiou.edu.
