If you were to list the single most important factor that would help in bridging the geographical boundaries then, ‘Language’ will top the list first in your mind. After-all, language is the key factor that allows us to unlock the cultural secrets and diversity of a foreign land by mode of communication. Our interaction helps us to understand each-other and reduce the gap of anonymity and unawareness.
Language barriers affect all areas of our lives. We must have encountered or experienced it at some point in time. Do you remember the helplessness you faced when you were not able to communicate in a foreign country outside your home-land due to language issues? This inability hampers a person’s identity and he loses confidence feeling anxious and embarrassed. This issue is critical during service encounters, in law enforcement and cross-cultural contact. Imagine your plight if you were to be pulled up by cops abroad and you were innocent and did something unintentionally because you were not aware of the rule prevailing there. How would you explain yourself, if the officer spoke only English and you belong to a non-English speaking background? Pertaining to the service industry customers find it complex to get relative information about the products and services due to the language barrier. Reforms are being made world-wide to overcome this major hurdle that restricts a Nation’s growth.
Businesses across the world are setting up offices in foreign areas, which enforce them to overcome the linguistic barrier for the growth and promotion of their organization. Language forms the foundation to enter any international market for building a brand and setting-up base there. “To tap the local markets, you have to speak locally”! This is done by bridging the gaps in communication by various techniques. Translations and interpreters come in very handy here. Almost every enterprise that has to deal in international markets has to take help from them. They help in promoting the business by making people understand the ideology of the company in their native language. With the advancement in technology and increased globalization, we are crossing borders and breaking the geographical barriers globally with breakthrough communication modes every minute. For instance, an individual sitting at home in London can easily speak to his friend in Australia by just a few clicks on the computer at any time of the day. Video chats, online messaging, mobile video calls, Tele-conferencing, mobile messengers have become the needs of every individuals’ life. We cannot think of leaving our cell-phone apart from us just for an hour also. We have become indefinitely dependent on technology for all our communication needs. This advancement has nonetheless, helped us to grow and think globally in numerous ways.
The decline in language barriers helps us in widening our knowledge horizons and appreciating different cultures, history, religion and language. We become more aware of each-other. Emigration of people is also dependent on language as they prefer to move to a place that speaks the same language. In, short we can state that geographical boundaries are being crossed over by bridging the communication gap globally.
About Author
Tim is a freelance writer and also contributes at Technovate Translations – a company that provides interpretation and document translation services. If not writing for the language and culture subject, he’s in the music room doing some guitar licks
Bridging Geographical Boundaries By Communicating
