Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Bridge

The bridge the two of us cross every time is English. It's our lingua franca with which we talk and write. It's not your mother tongue. Nor it's mine.

When I started talking and writing to you years and years ago I sometimes wished your mother tongue would be Dutch too. Because we would be able to communicate deeper. With more finesse. But it's not. So let's face the facts. 

Next to that English is planet Earth's lingua franca. More exact: it's species 'homo sapiens' present day lingua franca. Since the 1750s.

For me it's sometimes tough to write in English. I cannot always find the exact words for what I think and feel. (More honest: sometimes I can't in Dutch either.) But like so many activities in my life it's something I'm getting better at by just using it every day. Using it.

Another language isn't some software or app we download and install. It's a craft we learn by doing it. Doing it a lot.

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