How I am crossing the language barrier

When I step in front of my classes this fall at Metropolitan State University of Denver, I will take a moment to welcome the Spanish speakers in the class in their native language. I have not been able to do that before, but when this summer ends, I will have learned enough Spanish to confidently start that conversation, thanks to classes I am taking this summer at ShareLingo.

The ShareLingo program is taking me farther, faster than the four years of high school Spanish and the occasional trip to Mexico. Once a week, I sit down with four other English speakers and five Spanish speakers. We pair up and help each other pronounce and understand phrases and sentences that are important in everyday conversation. 

As an educator, I appreciate that ShareLingo is founded on sound adult learning theory: appealing to learners’ intrinsic motivation, making lessons that are relevant to learners’ personal goals, breaking a complex process into bite-sized chunks, and providing opportunity for learners to teach each other.

In a recent class, Sarai listened carefully and corrected my pronunciation, and I did the same for her. The ShareLingo method has made it easy for us to welcome each other’s critique, to store new knowledge in the correct file in the brain, and to naturally expand our vocabulary. We often go off into tangents, and marvel about the intricacies of each other’s languages. This is so much more enjoyable than conjugating verbs or talking to a computer.

She is a young immigrant and I am an older college professor. We never would have crossed paths, if not for this weekly ShareLingo class. But my life is richer for knowing her, and I hope I am helping her get ahead in our English-dominant work world. I hope that her current and future employers recognize the fresh perspective she brings to the workplace — a perspective that builds workforce cohesion and improves customer satisfaction; a perspective that becomes ever more critical as our country becomes more multi-lingual (albeit reluctantly).

At my university, about one-fourth of the student body is Hispanic, and many of them speak English as a second language. I teach public relations and journalism — fields that require a lot of writing — and I am amazed and admire the assignments turned in by these Spanish speakers. If only I could write Spanish half as well as they write in English. Even so, they require a lot more coaching than my native-English students. I believe I will be an even better resource to them once I can meet them on their (literal) terms. And I believe I and the other English speakers in our classes will improve our own storytelling once we gain more understanding of the Spanish language and the cultures that speak it.

Welcoming my Spanish speaking students in their language is just my first goal. The goal after that is to teach/learn from Spanish speakers in the immigration detention center in Aurora, Colorado. Did you know that many immigration detainees have been in limbo for months or years? Some are legal permanent residents who have family in this country. Others are victims of human trafficking or are seeking asylum from torture or death in their home country.

In a country built on due process and freedom from government oppression, 400,000 people are held without bail or clear path to freedom in 200 jails and private prisons around the country. This has gone on under my nose since the ‘90s. I don’t know what I can do about it, but the first step is to meet and understand the people my country has warehoused in these gulags, and to help them tell their stories.

I believe we can change the world one conversation at a time. I found a like-minded person when I met James Archer three years ago. At the time, I directed a communications and marketing program for a health organization, and James was beginning the ShareLingo Project. He had made his fortune as a computer engineer and was launching this language program with the ultimate goal of bringing people together through face-to-face communication. My organization was in the process of extending health insurance coverage to the uninsured, many of whom spoke Spanish. ShareLingo helped our sales team gain functional competence in the language, enabling them to reach prospects that our competitors could not. 

So I see how ShareLingo will make me a better teacher, how it will help me do my part for social justice, and how it has helped an organization increase sales. I hope this book helps lay out a feasible path for you to break down the language barriers in your world. 

In the end, this is all about individuals taking action to make a difference. I believe we all have the desire to make our world a better place, but that we often do not know how to take the first step. I believe you will find those first few steps in the pages of this book.

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."

— Margaret Mead

NOTE: This is a forward to the book Beyond Words, which releases on Amazon Aug. 6. Order here: https://bit.ly/BWSignature