Why learning smaller languages is more rewarding

Aran Jones Author, SaySomethingIn

It’s a common complaint from people with a negative attitude towards the Welsh language – why learn Welsh? Why not learn something useful?

It always makes me chuckle, partly because the people saying we should learn a ‘useful’ language almost never turn out to be confident Mandarin or even French speakers – and partly because it shows immediately that they really don’t understand what languages are for.

It’s pretty easy to test.

Hop on a train to Paris for the weekend, and count how many times you get stuck because you don’t speak French. ‘Stuck’ here means you weren’t able to order food, or get into a museum, or get somewhere via Uber or the metro.

Now learn a bit of French, enough to ask for food and directions (yeah, sorry, the test got a little more complicated). Hop on a train to Paris again, and this time count how many times you try to use your French, and you’re not immediately answered in English.

Now learn French fluently (okay, maybe just imagine it) and get that train back to Paris, spend the weekend ordering things and asking directions in French, and count how many times someone says that it’s amazing and exciting that you speak French. [Hint: it seems normal to them. They’re not going to care, unless you really ham it up and more or less beg for praise.]

The only difference between the first and last parts of that test were how good you felt about yourself. Nothing else changed.

Another test

Now, another easy test (you probably don’t believe me by this point, which shows that you’re wise).

Hop on a train to Caernarfon (oh, that’s right, you can’t, you’ll have to get a bus from Bangor, thanks a lot Welsh Government).

The first part of the test will be exactly the same. You’re not going to have any problems using English (and if you hear people in the pub speaking Welsh, that’s what they were speaking before you came in).

But now learn just enough Welsh to say ‘I’m sorry I don’t speak Welsh’, and notice how many people smile and say it’s okay. They’re appreciating you, even for as little Welsh as that.

Now learn enough Welsh to have a decent conversation, come back to Caernarfon (yes, this is a tourist campaign) and count how many people want to know where you come from and how long you’ve been learning.

That sound is the beginning of real connection. It won’t be everyone, because Welsh speakers are as busy and underpaid as everyone else, but it will be a lot more than Paris.

Nelson Mandela understood this.

He said ‘Because when you speak a language, English, well many people understand you, including Afrikaners, but when you speak Afrikaans, you know you go straight to their hearts.’ [With thanks to https://www.missionforward.us/finding-the-words/fact-check for saving me from the usual misquote!].

Connection and care

If you want a real eye-opener, repeat these tests with languages like Breton or Basque. The less people expect you to speak their language, the more interested they are when you do, and the more lasting connections you form.

I had a night out once with all the other attendees at a political conference in Basque Country.

You could hear people speaking Basque, Catalan, Galician, Spanish, French, English, Breton and Welsh. Spanish, French and English worked as the interface languages, but the real moments of connection all came from Basques saying a few words in Welsh or Galician, or Bretons using some Basque or some Catalan, or the Welsh contingent managing a few words in Basque or Breton.

We connect most when we care most.

And we’ll always care more about our own languages when they’re not globally dominant.

So yes – if you want the highest number of train stations where you can order a ticket, go for French or Spanish (or just talk loudly in English!).

Do be careful, though – I learnt a little Dutch before a conference in the Netherlands last year, and although I managed to order a train ticket in Schiphol, everything about it was wrong apart from the destination. We were lucky to get there at all.

If, on the other hand, you want to get to know people, and have more interesting conversations, and be genuinely welcomed – choose a smaller language, every time.

Find out more about SaySomethingIn here.