Chronique (Anglais) | how to speak a foreign language ? By Coumba Khoulé

We, humans, have created language to communicate, to understand each other in our communities. We have made language audible to be heard even if we don’t see the person we’re talking to. And we have created written language to make speeches travel across the time.
But, even if we’re not talking or writing, we can communicate.

Our posture, our smile or any other facial state can communicate to our interlocutor how we feel and sometimes what we’re thinking about.

The body language is then, that language no one learned to speak but everybody uses.
We all know the reason why we need to speak our local language.

This is so important that we cannot remember when we’ve learnt it. That’s vital for a baby, who cannot do anything by itself, to be heard and understood.

He starts by crying or yelling to make adults notice him. Then, as a toddler, starts learning the language in a remarkably fast way.

Obviously because he notices that crying is not always efficient.
Learning the language of another community can be vital for an adult who travels.

Because saying « please help » to an American could be safer than yelling « au secours » in front of him when you have an asthma attack.

As well as the child does to learn a language, trying to give words to ideas, we can use the same strategy while learning a new foreign language.

We can let that society teach us how they communicate, not only their language.
Learning a language is learning a new way to see life, it’s not translating words we already know.