Love; amor; amour; it’s the central unifying force that unites everything in our universe. And while we all have common bonds, it can be very difficult to communicate across a language barrier with people from other cultures. While every culture is strongly rooted in articulate communication, playing translator for a week can teach you a lot about our more primitive oration styles. For example, waving your hands, barking like a dog, or even laughing a little too loudly to try to convey that something was meant to be interpreted as a joke, instead of taken literally.In my AirBnB, my host informed me that two gentlemen from Mexico City would be staying with us. I was a bit nervous when I was also informed that neither spoke English. I hadn’t spoken more than a few playful moments of Spanish since freshman year of college, and knew the language barrier would be steep. Naturally, I decided it was going to be a long week.When they arrived, I stood in the corner awkwardly, while my host tried to introduce herself. However, it wasn’t long before they needed my help to interpret. I was embarrassed to find myself mispronouncing conjugations and speaking in the wrong tense a few times. Luckily, it was easy enough to pantomime my way around the house to give them a proper tour.When they retired for the evening after a long flight, I was relieved.The next night my host and I had made plans to go to an event, and she wanted me to ask our guests if they would like to join us. A simple request was very difficult to explain, but after a moment or two, it became clear that one of the guests was interested. Fifteen minutes later, we were packing up to travel to the other side of town.Afterwards, my new Spanish speaking friend was very pleased he had joined us. He said that anytime I wanted to travel to Mexico City, I was welcome to stay with him. This was a kind gesture--I thought. Perhaps, it was because I had told him about my love for flan, nopales, and mole on the ride to the event. Or, maybe it was because his sons were the same age as me.I found out that the other guest was his uncle and had lived in the area where I was born, fifty years before I came into the world! This commonality allowed us to converse on a deeper level, and share a similar perspective. While he was surprised that I was a writer, he was interested in learning more about me.Through our conversation we learned that we both shared a passion for eating cactus, which even led to him buying me some at the market the next day!One afternoon after returning from my day, I saw the nephew sitting outside in a chair in the backyard reading. He immediately motioned for me to join him, and he began inquiring about my journey. As we talked, I learned that he was very afraid of speaking English due to the language barrier, and that my offer to help was something that he believed to be very generous. No one else had ever tried to interpret for him before. I explained that it was fun, divertido, for me to do so, and that he needn’t thank me. However, we began a forty-five minute conversation about everything from his love for a glass of wine or beer, his German shepherds, and his newfound obsession with riding Harley-Davidson motorcycles.As I began listening to him explain how smart his dogs were, I couldn’t help but notice how close we had grown in only a few short conversations. Normally, it takes much longer to get to know someone. But due to our language gap, every word we shared was more than casual. It was a challenge to speak, and so every utterance carried a distinct weight of significance.He was extremely grateful for the chance to practice his English on someone who was forgiving. And I enjoyed the challenge of remembering my Spanish.The most important lesson that I learned from this experience was that no matter what, we all have a desire to communicate and share our experiences. I was grateful that Spanish was a requirement in my high school and that I had elected to take more in college. Speaking another language isn’t just about being able to order at restaurants, or navigate street directions. It’s about being able to make the most of relationships and speak with people all around the world. When you need to communicate across language barriers, it truly is a labor of love.For more on the topics of rekindling your language learning skills check out our articles here and here.