My Travel Story- Beyond the Barrier Is a Person

Hello everyone!

The story I'm sharing with you was my submission for the World Nomad writing contest to travel to Portugal. I want to share it with you as a way to spark some wanderlust within you and encourage you in your road to foreign language proficiency

The first challenge traveling abroad is language barriers especially when the official language is different from our own. It doesn’t matter why you’re there, but interacting with natives is unavoidable, and in most cases, it makes a difference in the kind of experience you have or what kind of people you meet.

My first time traveling abroad was for a college study tour in Paris. I’d been fluent in French for years and I took the opportunity to use what I know. When I took my seat on Air Tahiti headed towards Charles de Gaule (CDG) airport, I immediately made myself accustom to the multilingual chatter from flight attendants, settling passengers, and announcements repeated in Tahitian, French, and English. During those eleven hours, I was mentally preparing myself to enter a world outside my native language.

The following Monday, after arriving, we were scheduled to visit a man by the name of Bruno, the fourth-generation owner to the House of Legeron, an old atelier for custom couture flower and feather designs...but he didn’t speak English. Our European director was interpreting since no one else in our group spoke French.

When everyone was off taking pictures, I took the opportunity to introduce myself, in French, and he looked surprised. Bruno managed to warm up to me by making a few jokes and asked me to interpret while our European director stepped out to make a call. That was the first moment on the trip I wasn’t viewed with the “ignorant American” filter but for who I was... a person.

After that, I had several encounters like this with many locals. I felt like I had something special allowing me to stand out from most American tourists. I had a new confidence.

I stopped for lunch at a bistro with some girls before heading to a Martin Margiela Exhibit, one asked the waiter, “What is the most popular entree on the menu?”

The waiter seemed a little puzzled. “Quoi?” [What?]

“What’s the most popular entree on the menu!” She repeated only louder the second time. By the third time she repeated herself, she was just yelling at him. He probably didn’t know fluent English or simply didn’t want to.

In translation, “Elle veut savoir, qu’est-ce que c’est l'entrée plus populaire sur la carte.” I said looking up from my menu.

Prior to making that statement, the waiter blatantly put his hand in her face, “Je ne parle pas Anglais!” [I don’t speak English] and turned to listen to me. His whole demeanor completely changed as I spoke. Upon placing my order, I saw him smile at me! I didn’t see him do the same for the others. Language has a power of its own.

Before returning to Los Angeles, that same group and I were looking for the metro stop to our hotel and decided to ask someone and we met a man at a bar with tied-back blond hair, a sweater knotted over his shoulders and a slight German accent.

“Do you know how to get to Gaîté?” One of the girls asked.

I translated, “Nous devons retourner à notre hôtel.” [We must return to our hotel].

This man instantaneously turned my direction. “You speak French?”

I nodded while everyone ad-libbed in agreement.

“Are you really good?”

I nodded again. “Yes.”

“Ok, I only tell you.” He said with a semi-flirtatious smirk before giving me the directions in French.

This voyage was life-changing not because I was in Paris of all cities. It was eye-opening based on how locals treated me. I spoke their language. I understood them. I was one of them.

People don’t always understand the power of language between one another. Language has the power to move people, ignite fires of inspiration within souls, and manifest authentic human relationships connecting one person to the heart of another.

In the spirit of Nelson Mandela, “If you talk to a man in a language that he understands, it goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart.” Regardless of the language you speak, you don’t know whose path you’ll cross until you overcome that language barrier and reach into the heart of another person.