Communication Breakdown

Judith Molla

I am an international student from Spain and every single day I have to face with an interpersonal situation that cause me a breakdown in communication. I came to USA without knowing the language. The first thing I thought when I came here was that I had to learn English if I wanted to be successful in this country. I am here since last semestre and I am still having problems in communication. I think that the language barrier is one of the most relevant factors that cause the breakdown in communication.

For example, four month ago I was talking with co-worker who invited me to a “White party” and I got so mad at him because I thought that it was a party just only for white people. I remember I was so upset and I didn’t even wanna know anything from him. He was surprised for my reaction. One day after I found out that he just invited me to a party where you have to dress with white clothes. I remember I was so embarrassed that I didn’t wanna go to work. If you translate in spanish the words “white party” they mean “party for white people”. Here, there is a clear example of language barrier. The misunderstanding of a word, phrase or situation can bring you to a embarrassing situation.

Every day when I wake up I have to face with this language barrier. I have so many problems to understand the professors and class-mates. They talk fast and I sometimes I can’t follow the class. Sometimes I become frustrated and I just wanna run away and go back to my country. This create a lot of noise in my communication with the others. Foreign students have a lot of psychological noise and distractions. For example, sometimes I have problems to understand the professor and I don’t even have time to write down what he just said. This makes me think a lot and sometimes I am so worried that I just can’t stop to think about it.

I think that one of the solutions to solve the language barrier is to be patient when you are learning a language. Both, the sender and the receiver have to make an effort and help each other. The sender has to speak clearly and slow and the receiver has to pay attention as much as he can. Moreover the environment where the conversation is taken is really important. Somewhere quiet would be perfect to have a clear and understandable conversation.