Hayley North: Lost in translation

Guernsey’s education strategy has been back in the headlines over the last week or so but this time it wasn’t the building (or not building) debacle that caught my attention.

Despite the gravity of that situation, what really grabbed my attention last week was foreign languages and the number of people studying them.

For full disclosure, I studied French and German through to university level and still love speaking in another language. I loved languages from the moment I started to learn them, aged 11. My French (and Guernesiais)-speaking Guernsey grandmother strongly approved.

My maternal grandfather, whom I sadly did not know for very long, spoke only English. He worked at an airport in Yorkshire and was surprisingly passionate about foreign languages as a gateway to a rich experience of the world. He was excited that we would have the opportunity to learn them at school.

As you read this, I’m in Stockholm in Sweden, spending time with my bilingual Swedish friends whom I met when they lived next door to me in London. I’ll also see another fully bilingual Swedish friend later today with her young and also bilingual children. Yet another bilingual Swede I will spend time with at the weekend in the snowy mountains. I’m hoping the theme is obvious. They don’t just speak English; they are undetectable in British society (until you take them ice-skating). My friends all studied different things at university – none of them studied English, yet their English beats my French or German hands down.

The fact that my friends took learning English that seriously let them access so many things that otherwise would have been closed to them. A world of true friendship with other nationalities and exciting work possibilities. By being open to language, trying to listen, understand and pick up words as you go, you learn about the culture, you pick up the social rules and you build much deeper bonds. You can take things from other languages and cultures and apply them to your own, as we have all done for centuries.

When I’m in Sweden, I pick up quite a lot of the Swedish that is spoken around me. I encourage them to carry on regardless so I can pick up words and phrases. Bizarrely, the phrase that sticks the most right now is ‘I must buy fish’, which as a vegetarian is sadly useless, but it sounds impressive. I love listening to the sing-song intonation of the language and picking out words that are similar to English, German or just very funny to an English-speaking ear. There are plenty of those in Swedish.

My little brain whirrs into action when switching from one language to another, a little like a stationmaster at a railway junction, manually switching the lines to let different trains through. It is well recognised that speaking more than one language, even just a tiny bit, is great exercise for your grey matter. Learning any new skill at any age can help slow down brain cell decay and is hugely beneficial for your mental health. Learning languages might not actually make you cleverer (studies have reported conflicting results in this area) but it can generate social, lifestyle and employment benefits.

In Guernsey, it has been reported that fewer and fewer children are opting to study foreign languages for GCSE and beyond. While this mirrors the pattern in the UK, the decline is more severe here, which is a surprise to me given how close we are to France and the fact that we already have our own local language. I read with excitement in this paper last week that Les Beaucamps is bucking the trend and introducing innovative learning techniques, which is great, but we really do need to reverse the downward trend overall.

Only a few of my closest friends are native English speakers. The others, many of whom have experienced significant life events with me, grew up speaking German, Swedish or Russian. Their lives have been altered enormously by learning English at a young age and their horizons widened beyond anything they could have imagined at that time. They have also changed my world view enormously.

Learning one language is also a gateway to learning more. You understand the principles and grammar, you have some interchangeable vocabulary and you have the confidence to know you will pick some up. I will never forget a conversation I had in Tuscany around 25 years ago with the Italian parents of my sister’s boyfriend at the time. They did not speak English and I did not speak Italian, so we all spoke in French with an Italian accent and it was a lot of fun. Language learning gives you an insight into real lives you may never live yourself and lets you connect with people you might otherwise have walked straight past. If you’re anything like me, before long you’ll also be obsessed with all manner of traditions and baked goods from the countries you get to know better.

The same is true of lesser-spoken languages. I read recently that Duolingo is withdrawing support from its Welsh language option within its app which is disappointing news. One of my best friends learned Welsh late in life, married a native Welsh speaker and sends her wonderful children to a Welsh-speaking primary school. This gives those girls an enormous headstart when they come to learning French, Spanish or German later on. It builds a wonderful family bond and allows their dad to feel truly connected to his roots. Removing access to language learning, whether it’s a popular language like Spanish or an endangered one like Welsh or Guernesiais is short-sighted. Language is first and foremost about connection and giving people access to a language they love could well encourage them to learn another, ‘more profitable’ one.

We all use our own unique languages every day with each other. We get to know the quirks and odd vocabulary, the unusual intonation and word order and the alternative spellings. Our languages are who we are and how we express how we feel. Being able to choose which language we express ourselves in is extremely important and a gift that comes with learning other languages. Our lives are richer for it and the more we learn of other people’s languages, the more fun we will all have.

It doesn’t cost much to promote the learning of languages or to encourage and support them and it’s wise to encourage your children not to dismiss them. There’s a wonderful world out there that they too could be exploring with friends they would never have met otherwise.