I think this is a drive we all share, albeit to a different extent. We all feel like we want to be or need to be part of the in-group, the cool people, the “dolls and the lads.” We want to be part of something bigger. I think it’s ingrained in our DNA. Since the dawn of our species, we’ve built families, friend groups, tribes, towns, cities, all the way up to countries. Who knows, maybe one day the whole world will share the same banner. The rule of thumb, evolutionarily speaking was: ‘together we win, alone, we die.’ But how exactly does this relate to language learning? Wanting to be together, that is, Integration is what motivates language learning. We want to be together because of reasons x y z, and we need to speak the same language in order to do so, at least in the long run.
I think back to when I moved to the Netherlands as an eighteen-year-old. I needed a job, a house, a phone, a bank account, and a whole lot more. The one thing it seemed like I didn’t need, was to learn Dutch. Pretty much everyone speaks adequate English in the Netherlands. It was mind-blowing, having come from Italy, where pretty much nobody speaks adequate English. Oh, how wrong I was…
It’s one thing, coming to a country and speaking the language, and quite another, coming to a country and not speaking the language, but a second language. Let me illustrate. Scenario A, you don’t speak the local language. You’re new in town, eager to meet people. You go to a bar, the most local one you could possibly imagine. There’s many people and you strike up conversation. This happens on and on and everybody knows you as the new foreigner in town; you make five, ten, fifteen-fifteen-minute friendships only to have them evaporate after a couple minutes of conversation. But the city is big, and you meet some people who seem to genuinely be interested and exchange numbers. Score.
Scenario B, you try to speak the local language or speak it to a conversational level. Same bar, same people that would’ve been there. In through the door. You nod to the bartender and fluently order a beer in French with a little hint of an exotic accent. People sense your presence. Person next to you notices and introduces themselves, asks where you are from and what you’re doing in Toulouse. You answer, “I just moved here and I’m trying to get to know some people tonight”. Woah, they smile and nod, impressed with your French. One drink becomes two and two becomes four (drink responsibly). Your new friend introduces you to their friends and you’re in. You’re with the cool cats drinking the best wine the south of France has to offer. Next thing you know, you’re brought to a limo and escorted to meet the president of the French republic. She’s impressed with your French and they televise the encounter after you read complex contractual clauses effortlessly and sign off the document.
Point is, putting in effort to learn a language and to speak it, is almost always received positively. 99% of the time, people are excited to hear you trying to speak and communicate. And if they are not, that’s frankly, their problem. If you set out to learn a language and you want to speak it, go ahead. In the beginning, when I was learning Dutch, something a lot of Duchies would do was switch to English, as soon as they heard my accent. Don’t take this discouragingly. Take it as an opportunity. You simply need to reply, politely, that you would like to speak Dutch, and not English. “Ik zou graag nederlands willen spreken.” (I would like to speak Dutch). I have not met anyone who said no to that. Today, in Rome, I still get to practice my Dutch by either reading, writing, or participating at the local praat café (speaking café). It turns out, there’s a vibrant local community of Dutch people that live in Rome. I’m sure there’s many more around the world. I know in Utrecht there was a local community of Italians living in the Netherlands and its logical for us to find them everywhere, within reason. The reason for this is, again, we want to stick together, and what sticks us together is language and culture. Point is, if you feel like you wanna be a part of the local community, and not among your country’s kin abroad, learning the language is fundamental. You wanna be that person that’s just new in town, or that person that’s new and town, and speaks the local language a little bit? I guarantee this will open doors.
Have fun,
calypso
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