Do you ticket travel only to countries that speak your language?
© Jan Vašek/Pixabay

Why Crossing Cultures Always Means Learning a Second Language

Most English speakers who travel internationally and enjoy crossing cultures have, at one time or another, depended on people in other countries to also speak English.  Such moments may arise because

• even a polyglot is bound to miss one or two of the world’s 6800 languages.
• your language learning app doesn’t cover how to say, “Could someone help me retrieve my cellphone from the hotel swimming pool?”
• long-haul flights, long layovers, lost luggage, jet lag, and an unfamiliar environment have temporarily stalled your progress in speaking a second language.

Or as a public speaker once said, “It’s cool that people Over There are all multilingual and stuff, but me, I just travel where people speak English.”

Humorist Stephen Leacock wrote, “In Canada we . . . use English for literature,
Scots for sermons, and American for conversation.”
Photo by Pixabay

The Universal Language?

OK, the “public speaker” was actually a fellow airline passenger talking on his cellphone, but clearly, he intended everyone onboard to have the benefit of his perspective. As a flight attendant approached him, he delivered one last insight: “More people speak English than any other language.”

Did anyone correct our talkative traveler?  I’ll never know. We were all retreating into our headphones by this stage. But more than 1.2 billion speakers of Mandarin Chinese might beg to differ.

“We’re Number Two!”

English actually comes in second, with 983 million speakers. That includes people who speak English as a second or third language.

Still, it got me wondering. What if the man in Seat 37-B keeps his word—his English word, apparently—only visiting countries where English is an official language?

He will be in for a surprise. Because while millions of us around the world speak English, we don’t all speak it the same way.

Imagine our traveler in another English-speaking country. He puts down his cellphone long enough to hear a local say . . .

1. I could murder a cuppa. (British English)
2. Shall I be Mother? (ditto)
3. Strong enough to trot a mouse across. (Irish English)
4. Let’s grab a capp! (Australian English)
5. One double-double. (Canadian English)

In Ireland, what’s “strong enough to trot a mouse across?”
Photo by Pixabay

None of these English speakers is engaged in foul play, role play, building a bridge for rodents, stealing a hat, or placing a bet.  The first three are discussing tea— craving it, pouring it, or brewing it—while the other two prefer coffee.

Oh, I see:  English, the universal language, spans a universe of languages.

Opposite World

Even when English speakers use the same words, they don’t always have the same meaning:

• In Canada, to table a motion means to consider a proposal. In the U.S., it means to set it aside. When Canadians write a test, they’re the ones taking it.
• In England, public school is what Americans call private school, and vice versa.
• In Ireland, being called bold or cute is not a compliment. The former means you’re acting out, the latter means you’re sneaky.

Like Day and Night

Something as simple as daily routine highlights differences among the worlds of English:

• In Ireland, wearing a vest to work would mean showing up in your undershirt.  A waistcoat completes that three-piece suit. Putting on pants? Do add trousers, or you’ll get chilly legs and chillier looks.

No one in Ireland “speaks with a brogue,”
but some wear brogues on their feet.
Photo by Pxhere

• In many English-speaking countries, drivers check under the bonnet and stow belongings in the boot before motoring to the company car park (or in Canada, the parkade). They top up the petrol, too. But if the car is munted (NZ), goosed (Scotland), or banjaxed (Ireland), they may ring a taxicab or cadge a lift from a friend.

Fear not the deadly ute! That’s Australian English for “impressive SUV!”
Photo by Pxhere

Eating Your Words

After work, do the messages (shop for groceries). In a hurry? In England, order a bacon sarni (sandwich) or other takeaway from the chippy. Wash it down with a bevvy. Don’t need much? In New Zealand, pop into the convenient corner dairy.

You won’t find cows at a New Zealand dairy—just grocery staples.
Photo by Pxhere

Prefer home cookery? American English speakers might puzzle over a shopping list of common words like rocket, capsicum, courgette, aubergine—or arugula, peppers, zucchini, eggplant. A Scottish English list might include brambles, tatties, and ‘neeps—berries, potatoes, and turnips or swedes.

Set the table with cutlery, crockery, and serviettes. Afterward, serve afters—dessert. During the  washing-up, don’t be a silly eejit (Ireland) who overloads the garburetor (Canada) with food scraps.

Give Me a Break!

While Americans take vacations, many English speakers go on holiday. In New Zealand, Kiwi English speakers head to a bach, or holiday home, pack togs for swimming, and wear sunnies to protect their eyes. They take off their trainers, slip their feet into jandals, and sip cold stubbies from the chilly bin. But if the weather suddenly turns, they’ll don a pair of gum boots, a.k.a. wellies.

Wade into any language and you’ll net fascinating finds.
Photo by Pixabay

Wading into a World of Words

As you can see, English, like all languages, is dynamic, forever exploring the multilingual. On almost every continent, different cultures shape English to suit their own needs, influences, and sense of place.

So where does this leave our traveler from Seat 37-B?

I’m hoping that as he explores the worlds of English,  talking with people in new places, he’ll discover that differences enliven communication. That differences are, interestingly, something we all have in common. That crossing cultures and delighting in differences can even lead to the fun—and benefits—of learning a second language.

Why blather on your mobile?  Wherever you travel,
a proper natter with chums is much more fun!
Photo by Pxhere

See John McWhorter’s TedTalk on reasons to learn a second language here.

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