Language Matters: Questions

Do you agree that we can come to some kind of common ground with communication when there is a language barrier? When has language ever been a barrier for you?

Language Matters

      For this first blog, I wanted to reflect on a situation I was currently in where I was visiting on vacation in South America in Costa Rica and the language barrier I encountered. The primary language spoken in Costa Rica is Spanish; secondary is English. I found that on our resort, most people spoke both languages- especially those that did the most interacting with tourists. Off of the resort; however, was an entirely different story. The people of this country were very friendly and inviting, but it was like a third language needed to be constructed in order for us to communicate. A lot of hand gestures and visual aids were needed to get the point across. It did seem like the native people were able to understand English better than any of us could understand Spanish.
     Christopher Dawson, an English independent scholar, once said "The greatest obstacle to international understanding is the barrier of language." I completely agree with Dawson.The largest difference between the Spanish-speaking people of Costa Rica and our group of tourists was the language but the number one thing we had in common was how we tried to understand each other and how we came to a common ground in understanding each other. 

Dawson, C. (2011). Quotation. Retrieved from brainyquote.com on Jan 24, 2011. http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/c/christophe230776.html.