Image via Wikipedia

Man is created as a social being, hence he is fashioned to socialize and build relationships towards other people, whether for business, friendship or romantic purposes. And in order to socialize naturally, he ought to communicate with other people in languages everybody can understand. Therefore, language plays an important role in building relationships.

Discussing the marital context, people from different countries meet in a certain place and end up in marriage and relationship. Despite their differences in language speaking, they still have mutual understanding. They enable themselves to learn the language of their spouse just to communicate properly with them.

Take this as an example: a Chinese guy decided to marry a French lady, so for them to nurture their marital relationship, either the husband will decide to learn French or the wife will bridge their gap by learning Chinese language. It won’t be difficult for both of them to learn either of these languages. Their commitment as married couples motivates them to learn both languages because they simply love each other. The husband wants to say “I love you” in the language his wife is speaking. Likewise, the wife will mutually learn her husband’s language for them to effectively communicate, since communication, is actually, the relationship itself.

“Marriage is like a beautiful garden,” a statement quoted from to Dr. Renee Colclough Hinson, executive director of The Association for Couples in Marriage Enrichment. “It requires skill and constant attention. If tended to, it will thrive, but if neglected, it will wither and die.” That’s why constant communication is an essential way to nurture marital relationships. Particular to couples who speak different languages, learning the spouse’s native language bridges their gap—the gap of miscommunication.

Since communication plays a vital role in building relationships, it must be constantly practiced among couples. Honestly speaking, even couples who speak the same language often argue for certain things, how much more could couples who speak different languages? Nonetheless, effective communication is not close to understanding the language of each spouse, but also includes the nurture of their relationships through other deeds as well, e.g. rendering quality time, giving gifts, presenting acts of service, and the like.

Wouldn’t it be nice for the French lady if her Chinese husband takes the effort in learning her native language? The husband only shows his love towards his wife through his effort to learn and there is no question about that. In the context of marital relationships, learning languages plays a very essential function. It is a natural act of showing love towards the person he or she delights.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 17th, 2010 at 2:58 pm and is filed under Languages and Society, Young Learners. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.