The Real Reasons for Learning a Foreign Language
(Written 4 July 1996)
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Herodotus, the ancient Greek historian, preserved for us an experiment from antiquity intended to show which was the original language of humanity. The Egyptian king, Psammetichus I, ordered that a newborn child be taken to live in the wild desert, placed under the care of a mute shepherd, who himself was denied the opportunity to speak with the child during the years in which he would grow up.
These children were raised in such an environment with only the silent shepherd and the company of goats. The experiment’s aim was to see whether children, without hearing spoken language, would still develop a form of communication of their own.
After two years, the children were brought before the king to be tested. The only words they were able to pronounce were sounds like “Bek, Bek.” Perhaps this was merely the imitation of the goats’ voices with whom they had lived.
The Egyptian king thought he knew the truth: that the first spoken word of humanity had been revealed. He therefore declared that the Phrygian language must have been the original human language, since in Phrygian the word “bekos” meant “bread.”
Thus, from this experiment, the first “psycholinguistic king” concluded that the Phrygian language must be humanity’s original language. Yet, modern linguists in their research have not found final answers of this kind.
If we turn to the Old Testament (Book of Genesis, Chapter 11), it is said: “The whole world spoke one language, and used the same words.” But when the Tower of Babel was built, God descended among men and confused their language so that they would no longer understand one another. From that moment of the confusion of languages, peoples of the earth expressed themselves in different tongues and dialects.
In the Acts of the Apostles in the New Testament, we recall the Day of Pentecost, when the Apostles, filled with the Holy Spirit, began to speak in all the known languages. When the cosmopolitan crowds in Jerusalem heard them, they were astonished, because each person heard them speaking in his own language.
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From that moment at Babel, which caused the division of languages, we must understand that in truth, human beings are bound together through language — it is the bridge that makes possible understanding, as if it were their very own tongue.
On the deepest level, all languages serve the same human capacity: to understand another person, even if he does not speak our language. This understanding may come through gesture, intonation, the closing of the eyes, or the expression of the face. Even though many details are lost in translation, the fact that understanding can be reached shows that there is a universal foundation of communication.
The experience we inherit from the Bible (Babel) is also found today: people who live together, even if they do not share the same language, can still communicate with each other. The absence of a common language does not eliminate human interaction, but makes it more difficult and less rich.
Modern linguistics has confirmed that a language cannot simply be erased, nor can it be artificially imposed. Each language carries within it the life of a people. To destroy a language is to destroy the living continuity of that people.
Our own time is marked by efforts of international organizations such as the United Nations or “United Europe,” which encourage internationalism, multiculturalism, and tolerance. But at the same time, ethnic conflicts, fueled by xenophobia, show us that humanity still lives under the permanent threat of division.
The loss of control mechanisms at the superpowers’ level has unleashed destructive forces in various places. Behind every ethnic conflict is hidden the struggle of peoples to preserve their identity — and this identity is always deeply connected with language. It is no surprise, then, that whenever a people insists on survival, it fights to preserve its own tongue.
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Culture exists through language, just as a hand exists through its fingers. Language is the axis that holds a people together. In humanity’s evolution, language has always been a key factor, one of the most decisive elements in the creation of human beings as such.
Through the ability to communicate, humanity has enjoyed its greatest achievements — from the British writers who expressed humanism in its fullness, to explorers who possessed the same language as their companions while colonizing the world from the Arctic to Antarctica.
One of the most important results of research into languages is this: as a rule, only languages learned in childhood are mastered without accent. Childhood is the time when foreign languages can be learned in the most natural and fruitful way.
Language is above all the teacher of thought. It distinguishes objects, names them, and makes them known. It is rare to find a person who, having grown up in one place, cannot distinguish the originality of his dialect from that of his neighbor.
Each of us carries the memory of meeting someone from another region, who spoke differently, and of our surprise when we realized that we belonged to “this side” or “that side.” For example, the meeting with someone from Shkodra, whose way of speaking is distinct, reminds us that every language marks its people, and every dialect its region.
Thus, language forms human beings, their work, their songs, their very lives. Languages reveal how each people experiences the world — whether snow is described with three different words or with only one, the language itself shapes the perception of life.
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To learn a foreign language does not mean to say: “Now I am one of them.” Rather, it means to enrich oneself with the ability to enter the experiences of others.
The more one is drawn into the mastery of a language, the deeper one can enter into the culture of that people. A language opens not only communication but a way of thinking.
Through a foreign language, one perceives the subtleties of thought: why a German may say “Ich bin satt” (“I am satisfied/full”), while others say something different; why the English prefer “Goodbye” or “See you” while another people prefers another expression.
Learning a foreign language means opening a window to another people’s spirit, enlarging the kingdom of practical life. It is not only about learning grammar in school or through empirical methods, but about entering another dimension of experience.
Even today there are debates about whether learning foreign languages is necessary. Some argue it should be “discussed.” But in truth it should not merely be discussed — it must be done.
One of the essential aspects of Waldorf Education (based on Rudolf Steiner’s philosophy) is that children learn foreign languages from their earliest years, starting around age six. A school without foreign languages is incomplete.
To learn a language is to enrich life, to open oneself to the unknown, to dare to meet the unexpected, to measure oneself against the uncalculated.
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When we listen to another person, we allow something of ourselves to descend and meet the train of thought of the other. Language helps us to understand, to follow, and to support one another.
The learning of a foreign language strengthens the ability to listen — to hear not only words, but the unspoken feelings and thoughts behind them.
In this way, foreign languages awaken empathy. They enable us to understand the other as if he were speaking from within our own life.
When children begin to learn foreign languages, their senses and thoughts are awakened. Studies show that even the smallest muscular movements of the face, the intonation, the rhythm of speech — all these are essential for language learning.
In fact, language learning is not only about words but about movement, rhythm, and gesture. Speaking is also an inner movement of the body, and this is why even babies “dance” with the rhythms of those around them when they begin to perceive speech.
Thus, language learning is deeply physical as well as intellectual.
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Warmth and strength: a foreign language touches the personality of the learner and connects him with two cultures at once. One can say: he becomes both “more German” and “more English” at the same time.
Children should not be burdened with grammar and rules too early, but rather should learn through songs, poems, rhymes, stories, and play. These awaken their joy and help them acquire language naturally.
Dialogue, singing, and dramatization are not merely exercises but living forces of language learning.
The grammatical structure is the skeleton, but the flesh of language is rhythm, sound, and living expression. Children learn by absorbing patterns, not by memorizing rules.
Modern studies show that children around the age of ten can already distinguish the functions of grammar consciously. Before this age, their language learning should be joyful and natural.
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Children take pride when they can show their parents the words they have learned in another language. Even a small book given to them becomes a source of joy for many years.
At ages 11–14, language learning should include recitation, dialogue, short plays, songs, and stories. Grammar enters as a tool to strengthen expression, not as a burden.
At ages 14–18, young people need a language that opens their worldview. At this stage, literature, geography, and history become the gateways to deepen their mastery of the foreign tongue.
At this age, foreign languages become part of cultivating a broader humanity. Through them, young people free themselves from the narrowness of inherited prejudice and grow into citizens of the world.
The only true way to prevent war and destruction is to teach the next generation to understand one another. Nothing achieves this more than language.
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Language learning in Waldorf schools touches precisely this aspect: the ability to connect with others, to communicate, to foster social pedagogy, to educate for peace.
Education for peace does not come only from talking about it, but from the ability to perceive, to distinguish, to recognize, even among people who speak different languages.
In such communication, what is shared becomes clear: each person begins to feel what the other feels. And this happens through language.
4 July 1996
