Notes on Language: When Years of Experience Fails You

During the past seven months, I’ve made acquaintances with three German natives. All three came to the United States for three to six-month internships at Schott Optical in Massachusetts, where my boyfriend was on co-op.

The first German, Felix, was 28 years old. Aside from his native language, he knew Spanish almost fluently, and had impressive French and English skills.  Although he traveled a lot, he was eager to learn about America, as if it were the first time he had ever left his home country.

The second German that I met, Ben, was 24. His English improved throughout his stay, but wasn’t awful to begin with. Ben interacted well with his co-workers and us. He had a great sense of humor and wanted to make the most of his stay by fully exploring the area around him.

And then there was Martin. At 19 years old and without working a day in his life, Martin came to the U.S. from Bavaria, Germany, knowing very little and very basic English. He was timid and quiet, and avoided talking whenever he could. I only spent one weekend with him and during that small window of time I picked up on one thing: The most common phrase that Martin used was “I don’t know.” 

When it comes to language, the German that I can identify with most is Martin. Throughout the past seven weeks of my advanced French class, I caught myself saying “Je ne sais pas” far too often. When I heard Martin say, “I don’t know,” I immediately saw myself in French class. It became clear that when a language barrier is present, our easy way out is by the declaration of ignorance. “I don’t know” is a safety net; the words prevent people from further asking questions, they provide a quick end to unsettling conversation.

It took almost seven weeks of two-hour periods of full French exposure before I realized that I was hiding behind the wall of “I don’t know,” especially during the “bad days.”

            I’ve studied French for over seven years. Martin has studied English since he was a young boy in school. And yet we protect ourselves with “I don’t know.”