Dog walk diaries: a limited view

This afternoon we visited my wife's family so that they could meet my brother. It is somewhat strange for them to see members of my family as they get a different view of me as a person. The challenge is that they don't speak English which means everything has to go through the filter of translation and, a lot is lost.

My wife's sister and brother-in-law are not old yet they are very limited in their ability to speak. They understand quite a lot though but these days, not being comfortable speaking English restricts them in what they they do and holds them back from some things they want to do.

This is more than just having a chat with some foreigners, it affects where they are willing to go on holidays and what they are willing to do while there. They want to adventure but, they also don't want to feel like they can't communicate if they must.

English speakers tend to take it for granted that pretty much everywhere they go, they are able to find someone who understands them and most places, a lot of people who speak their language. Finnish has about 6 million speakers of it in the world, 5 million of them are in Finland.

I have trouble with this too. I don't know my in-laws very well at all because I can't speak Finnish well enough. Yes, I can survive but, not speak deeply on anything. They are lovely people but my view of who they are is very narrow. It is also because of language that they are not so willing to visit us often, even though they live close by.

Not learning Finnish properly is one of my largest failures and now with a daughter who appears gifted with language skills, it is going to become more apparent soon. She is under two and already speaks outside of my range at times.

One day, there will be tech that solves the communication problem well but, the ability to actually learn a language other than a mother tongue brings many added learning abilities. It also brings new perspectives and changed thoughts. I wonder if there was a test done on single and multiple language speakers if conclusions could be drawn on things like level of conservatism or willingness to accept others.

In my experience, the higher the language ability, the more liberal. This seems obvious perhaps as it indicates an interest in other cultures.

What I think though is no matter the languages spoken, the mire ability one has to understand the world, the richer the experience.

Taraz
[ a Steem original ]
_{posted on the phone}