Author: Hannah Patzer

Remember in high school when you would go over to your friend’s house and you had to talk to their parents? Forced conversations, unenthusiastic laughs, you know the deal. Now imagine that but hundreds of miles away from home and with people who 1) probably don’t speak the same language as you and 2) have no relation to you whatsoever. That is what moving in to your host family’s house is like. It is awkward. There’s no other way of saying it but luckily, that is what it is like only initially. As someone who did a homestay in France for 8 months I can positively say that if someone is willing to open their house to a stranger, chances are they are incredibly nice. There are just some things to remember while there:

1. Listen to your parents: Saying please and thank you wasn’t something your parents said to you to annoy you when you were a child, they really meant it. Luckily, the Girl Scouts have a Thank You cookie and if you have trouble remembering what the word is; just open a box of those. Danke, Gracias, Merci, xièxie, Takk should not be used lightly. In a homestay, always remember how gracious it is for them to let you stay in their home.
2. Food, duh: If you are vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, pescatarian, etc. let them know. Your host family will not force you to eat anything that goes against your dietary restrictions. However, just because blood sausage sounds really gross, that does not mean you shouldn’t try it. Remember to try everything especially if it is something you’ve never seen before because food is a reflection of culture and if you automatically dislike a food without trying it, it is a sign of disrespect. Also, the smelliest cheese is usually the most delicious.
3. It’s the little things that count: These may seem like nuances and maybe unimportant but, make sure you know simple rules about homes in foreign countries. What should you do with your shoes? Are socks necessary? What is the rule about not finishing food on your plate? How should you eat? These are things you may never think about because you have been doing them all of your life but, in a different country these little things make all the difference.
4. Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram are out to get you: This is the most common mistake. It is so easy to get caught up on what is happening back home. Let me break it to you: nothing changed. Yes, it is fun to look at pictures of your friends from last weekend but, don’t let that take you away from spending time with your host family. There is a lot you can learn from them and you are in an extremely unique opportunity so take advantage!
5. What to wear: At home you may walk around in just your underwear, more power to you. In other countries that is not acceptable. Know the customs about what to wear not only in public and at school/work but also at home. In some countries even showing parts of your leg is looked down upon. Along the lines of clothes are tattoos. Make sure you know what the country’s perceptions of tattoos are. For example, in Japan, you’re better off just hiding them.
6. Help out: You should help out because your host family does a lot for you and you should lend a hand doing dishes, cooking, cleaning and taking care of pets. Also, make your bed. Host families do not like going in to your room to find it dirty. They understand that you are busy with friends/work/school/internships but you are never too busy to help out. Also, when you come back home and your mom asks you if you helped, you better have a good answer.
7. Don’t be shy: It is really easy to just quietly sit and eat dinner with your host family and get by with minimal conversation. A little piece of advice: DO NOT DO THAT. Ask your host family everything and anything within reason, of course. Favorite food, American Television (it’s everywhere), music, art, clothes, animals, anything! By asking questions you will learn so much about who you’re living with, their country and for those in a non-English speaking country, the language.
8. Embrace the mistakes: Awkward situations will happen, there’s no way around it. You could be fluent in the language and have done hours upon hours of research on the country and their culture, you will still make mistakes and be in funny situations. These mistakes can be from language differences, social differences or something simple like gaseous movements during dinner. Trust me, all the mistakes or awkward moments are to be expected and are best dealt with by laughing.
9. They are there to help: Your host family is ultimately there to help you and facilitate your transition to another country. Although they are not your real family, they can provide support like your family back home would. Homesickness is inevitable and there are many ways that your host family can help you, so don’t lock yourself in your room, talk to them!
10. Keep in touch: This is a hard thing to do. Language skills come and go, you may have only lived with your host family for a short period of time or you may think you have nothing to talk about. There are many reasons why you may not keep in contact but there are even more why you should. They want to know how you are doing, how your experience abroad affected you back home, what school/work is like, plans to return, etc. You don’t have to skype them for 5 hours but a simple email is a nice gesture.
11. Gifts: Like I said, opening up your home to a stranger is an extremely kind thing to do, so show your appreciation. Many people give their host families gifts when they first arrive. If you have no room in your bag, have someone back home send you some novelties of where you came from. People love getting authentic things from your home town/state such as sports memorabilia, food, beverages, key chains, magnets, etc. It does not have to be big nor expensive but, it should be indicative of where you’re from.

There are almost 200 countries in the world and I want to see them all. From the Coliseum in Rome to Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe to the Gobi desert in China to the hills of Scotland, there is something beautiful in every single country. The hardest part is deciding which place to explore, which place to lose apart of myself in, should I go to Beijing, Hong Kong, Ho Chi Minh, Osaka or Bangkok? The opportunities are endless.

On my morning commutes on the “L” train in Chicago I have had perfect daydreaming conditions: lifeless trees, snow covered everything, cold wind, etc. These daydreams always revert back to one thing: what if I got off at the Jackson red line stop, got on the Blue Line to O’Hare and left? I wouldn’t have much. A few wrinkled ones, maybe a five in my wallet, a debit card, a credit card, a ticket stub from a Sigur Rós concert, the clothes on my back and whatever book I decided to grab before I left my apartment. Today would be Independent People by Haldor Laxness (don’t actually ask me about the book though, I haven’t read it). Getting on the Blue Line train and getting off at O’Hare is easy. Deciding where to go is not. Should I go to Sevilla, Spain or Buenos Aires, Argentina? Should I go to Amsterdam, The Netherlands or to Helsinki, Finland? What about Asia? What about Australia? Why not Russia? Before I get ahead of myself I will stop and present something I like to call: “Where should I go later this afternoon?”

A quick disclaimer: money is not an issue (no one thinks about a budget in a daydream), I might be making up flights and even accessible airports, my parents, friends and girlfriend are totally okay with me leaving with a one-way purchase.

New Zealand’s North Island: I’m thinking that I will get in Auckland at around 7 AM. Find a hostel to stay at, drop off my bag (singular) and go to the Bay of Plenty. There, I meet a local who teaches me how to surf, how hard can it be? After I realize I actually won’t lose a leg to a shark, I learn a few things. I do prefer the land though. For lunch I stop by one of the nearby gardens and eat some avocados and kiwis. I take a quick cat nap (3 hours) on the beach and head back to Auckland, New Zealand’s largest city. And because it has been a long day learning how to surf and napping on the beach, I decide that I deserve a little reward so I head to a wine bar and taste some local wines.The next day I head south to Hamilton-Waikato because I want to day dream again and wonder what life is like in Middle-earth. Another stop would include Rotura on the Pacific Rim of Fire, which is a geothermal hotspot and the home of the Te Arawa people. I’ll also check out Eastland, where the Europeans and the native Maori first met on the island (I can also surf and drink wine at a vineyard here, too). I’ll soon head down to Wellington, New Zealand’s capital and second largest city at the southern tip of the island. Wellington, a culturally rich destination has many museums, theaters and art galleries worth seeing. Wellington also has a ferry that connects the North and South Islands in case I want to go skiing.

South Africa: I know, I know, how can I just say an entire country, especially a country that is incredibly diverse both culturally and geographically and is twice the size of Texas? I almost didn’t include South Africa for the sole reason that I couldn’t decide what to talk about. Should I talk about Cape Town, the beautiful coastal city in the south where you can go on a cable car ride and get a bird’s eye view of the scenery? What about the natural parks where I can see elephants, lions, or giraffes in their natural habitat? I surely can’t miss out on Johannesburg, South Africa’s capital city. What about the townships such as Soweto, where many impoverished South Africans live? After all, Nelson Mandela came from a township. Speaking of him, I should probably go to Robben Island, where he was incarcerated for almost 30 years. Wait, I think I just told you why to go. Well, for what it’s worth, I think I’ll start my trip on the Kalahari listening to Paul Simon’s album Graceland.

Rio De Janeiro, Brazil: There is a common theme here: all of these places are nicer than winter in Chicago. Rio de Janeiro is Brazil’s second largest city and is only getting larger. This summer, the city is set to host many World Cup matches including the final. In 2016 Rio is hosting many events for the Summer Olympics. The city is rapidly continuing to advance both economically and socially under President Dilma Rouseff, Brazil’s first female president (pretty cool, huh?). Rio is set in a bay with tons of beaches, where hopefully I will find that Girl from Ipanema. The famous Christ the Redeemer statue is in Rio and when visiting the monument I might as well take an aerial helicopter tour of the city. If I time it just right, I should be able to catch the tail end of Carnaval and enjoy the rich artistic history of the city (the musical genres of Bossa Nova and Samba both trace their roots back to Rio). Comida a Kilo is something I’ll be sure to look out for. It is a style of restaurant in which you pay for the food by the weight. Which is great because, I always wanted to see how much weight I could gain by one plate of food! You know, I might just visit enough beaches, drink enough água de coco and dance to enough Samba to stay until June and catch a few World Cup matches and see Neymar represent his homeland. Side note: don’t go in August, it’s the coldest month with an average low of 66 degrees Farenheit.

Stockholm, Sweden: Before I talk about Stockholm, I want to say some things about Sweden. Sweden is actively trying to cease the use of oil, in the entire country. About 48% of their energy is renewable. Swedes are forced to buy plastic bags at the grocery store to discourage use. It is one of the most gender-equal countries in the world—mothers and fathers are entitled to 480 days of paid parental leave. There are food holidays such as Våffeldagen (Waffle Day) on March 25th. Eighty-five percent of the population lives in urban areas. IKEA and H&M are both Swedish gifts to the world and Swedes have a life expectancy of 83. All in all, Sweden is cool, really, really cool. At the heart of all this progress is Stockholm, home to 22% of the Swedish population. It is built upon 14 different Islands in the Southeast portion of the country where daylight in the middle of summer can last up to 18 hours. As an avid biker, I’ll be sure to rent a bike and ride it along one of the many paths that connect the city to the nearby parks. Stockholm is home to several different Art Universities and has a vibrant artistic scene. While there I’ll stop by the Stockholm marathon (I won’t be running, remember all that food in Brazil?), Stockholm Pride and the Stockholm Jazz Festival. Stockholm has a highly accessible transportation system both within and outside the city and from there I can easily go to Umeå, one of the European Capitals of Culture of 2014. Or from there I could go to Norrbotten County, which is entirely in the Arctic Circle and has accessible viewing of the Northern Lights.

How does a language die?  Does it wither away with the times?  Does it disappear because of war?  Is it simply forgotten?  English is the Lingua Franca in the 21^st century; however, English has only been solidified as the universal language post World War II.  Language is something that comes and goes with the even flow of the changes in the world.  Mandarin for example has nearly a billion native speakers yet, it is only an official language in China while English is an official language in 54 different countries.  Today it seems as if these languages are only going to keep growing however; history tells us that it could change at any time.

The world today is more connected than it has ever been.  We can talk to virtually anyone at any time in the world.  And, while Mandarin, English and Spanish are continuing to dominate, many languages are receiving the back end of globalization. There are about 6,900 languages known in the world and of those, only about half of them are expected to survive another 50 years.  This is a shame because language is a way to celebrate a culture and differences between people.  As a student of foreign languages, I have always perceived languages and dialects the same way people view foreign food.  It is something that should be shared and enjoyed and available to everyone.  Missing out on the Basque language is just as bad as missing out on Basque cheese, in my humbled opinion.  With that being said, there are very interesting and ancient languages that are in danger of disappearing, here are some of them that you MUST hear before it is too late.

Irish Gaelic:  It is estimated that Irish is spoken by 20,000 to 80,000 people on a daily basis and about 1.2 million people use it in some context whether in their homes or in school.  The first signs of the language date back to the 4^th Century AD, far earlier than English.  It based its language off of the Latin alphabet and grammar.  It was a widely spoken language until the 18^th century when the English Monarchy limited its teaching in schools and hasn’t recovered since then.  Now-a-days it is still spoken but mainly in rural areas.  In 2007, a television series on Ireland’s TG4 titled No Béarla was created.  It was a show by Manchán Magan, a native Irish speaker, who went around all of Ireland speaking only Irish.  Spoiler alert:  he didn’t have much success.  Ireland recognizes Irish as the first official language of the country and all official signs post the name in Irish and then in English which shows that serious measures are used to preserve the language.  So just sit back, say: “Níl agam ach beagáinín Gaeilge” and listen.

UNESCO states that Irish is “Definitely Endangered”

Here’s one way to hear Irish Gaelic first hand.

Anything other than Mandarin:  It is estimated that there are hundreds of different dialects of the Chinese language and that some of these differences between dialects are similar to the differences between Romance languages.  They have the same roots but very distinct differences in writing, speaking and spelling, much like how French and Spanish have similar roots but are two very distinctly different languages.  Wu, a dialect of the general Chinese language has over 80 million native speakers and even those speakers fear that their days of speaking that language are numbered.  Based on the extremely high amount of native Mandarin speakers, it is safe to say that all Chinese languages , from Wu with 80 million speakers, to Anong which is spoken as a native language by about 800 people, are vulnerable.

UNESCO classifies many Chinese languages from “Vulnerable” to “Critically Endangered”

Here are a few ways to catch the hundreds of dialects in China.

Wajarri:  This is a language that is spoken by about 90 native speakers in Western Australia.  It is one of the Kartu languages spoken by the Indigenous Australians.  There have been many recent efforts to save this language in the past 30 years.  Dictionaries and grammar books have been created and Wajarri was in fact the first Australian Aboriginal language offered in secondary education in Western Australia in 2008.  Despite all of this, there are only 89 native speakers and a Google books and Amazon search showed me that finding the dictionary and grammatical book is not an easy task.

UNESCO classifies Wajarri as “Severely Endangered”

Here are a few ways to get yourself closer to Australia.

Basque:  I saved this one for last because I have found this to be one of the most interesting languages in the world.  Basque country is in northwest Spain and in southwest France whose largest city is Bilbao.  There are about 720,000 native Basque speakers today.  Basque is a language isolate meaning it has no known similarities to any existing languages and its origin is unknown although some think it is an original Indo-European language that dates back to the Stone Age.  What is interesting about Basque is that there is a serious effort to preserve the language.  Many Basque parents opt to have their children taught primarily in Basque opposed to French or Spanish.  Despite the trend, due to a lack of centralized Basque government in France, the language is losing many speakers in France.  In the 1960’s the Basque people formed the Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA), which means “Basque Homeland and Freedom”, and used violence as a means to win their independence and although it is only an autonomous state of Spain, it has a heavy influence.   Celebrate the difference! You don’t need to be an expert to know that “edalontzi bat ardo gorria, mesedez” Looks nothing like French nor Spanish.

UNESCO classifies Basque as “Vulnerable”

Here are a few ways to get you to Spain, and closer to hearing Basque.

Full cultural immersion is an important part of Greenheart Travel programs. Most of our programs include homestay accommodations, and we truly believe that there is no better way to experience a new culture, country or language than living like a local while traveling abroad. Our Greenheart Travel Intern, Joel Freeman, knows from experience and shares his top 5 reasons to try out a homestay.

1. Cultural Knowledge

Simply put, the amount you will learn in a homestay is almost overwhelming.  Language, politics, history, culture, people, trends, these are just some examples of things that a homestay will help you learn and understand.  I can vividly remember eating our third course (cheese) with my host father, Francois, and talking about the French presidency as if it were last night.  Being in an engaging conversation about someone else’s culture is not only a learning experience for you but often times, a real pleasure for the person you are talking to.

2. Seeing places you would have never dreamed of visiting

My host mother, Cecile, can take all the credit for the reason as to why I am in love with nature.  One weekend morning she took me on a hike with her friends.  Initially, I thought how easy it would be, some nice hills, a cool breeze.  How naïve I was.  Slippery slopes, wet paths, climbing, snow, maneuvering around trees, boulders, flowing volcanoes, earthquakes, chivalric sword ba-okay, I’m exaggerating a bit.  All in all, not an easy trip.  The climb itself was beautiful and then I got to the top.  If it weren’t for Cecile and her friends I never would have been on top of a mountain with what felt like the whole world within my view.  If anyone else has done that, they can understand the complete ecstatic feeling you get.  Lucky enough for me, Pau was in the center of many diverse landscapes because another weekend I got to spend my time watching surfers from a 40 ft. sand dune on the Atlantic Ocean.  Both of those unforgettable moments were all thanks to my host mother.

3. Minimize Homesickness

Even the toughest of people will get homesick at times.  I thought that that would never happen to me because I wanted to go to France so badly but, I was wrong.  You miss holidays, birthdays, and parties and at times you can get down.  However, the pros so heavily outweigh the cons that it is easy to get out of that state of homesickness.  Also, your host family is extremely helpful. They understand how awkward it can be living in someone else’s home but they sincerely will help you make you feel better.  Whether it may be a great meal, a board game or a night where everyone watches a show together (for us it was Le Grand Journal)  those little moments help you and changes the focus of being sad about being away from home to being happy about having this unique opportunity.

4. Stability

I cannot lie, studying abroad can be a destabilizing experience.  Everything is new and foreign, chances are if you met fellow Americans, they probably are from a completely different place (my best American-Study Abroad friend is from Idaho).  In a time where you are somewhat uncomfortable, uncertain, and lacking confidence, you want something to “come home to.” A homestay can alleviate many troubles you have, and chances are you don’t have to worry about buying toilet paper, or scavenging for meals on a Sunday because every thing is closed then in Europe.  Your homestay family gives some normality in a time where “normal,” “typical” or “just another day” doesn’t accurately describe your life.

5. FOOD

This is probably the most obvious of them all.  I cannot imagine what life would have been like without tartiflette, raclette, boudain, hundreds of cheeses, pain au chocolat, les petites madeleines (both the food and the symbolism), and the wines.  Being on a student budget, I did not eat out much but, when I was out on the town picnicking with friends and enjoying un bon plaisir de vie I was actually able to make an educated cheese and wine decision thanks to my host family.  This may not seem like a big deal, but in France even the smallest of grocery stores will have at least 30 cheeses from at least 3 different animals and being able to correctly identify them felt as good as scoring the winning touchdown at the Super Bowl would (probably).

What’s that smell/doukipudonktan?

During my time in France I went to about 10 different large cities, and the smelliest was Marseille but only because when I went they had just had their Christmas market and all that was left was old soupe a l’oignon and garbage and also because it is right by the sea.  Besides that, France and the French have a bad reputation about their smell and I don’t know why.  Deodorant is much more expensive there but it is readily available, even Axe spray, in case I wanted to remember what my middle school locker room smelled like.  This myth about the French smelling is false, last year actually there was a big scandal because a French family was kicked out of a museum because they smelled so bad.  So either they are really sensitive about their smell or they wanted a good publicity stunt to debunk those myths.

Wait, how much does this bottle of wine cost?

I am no wine connoisseur; I know that I like wine red and preferably in a wine glass so going to the wine capital of the world was a little bit intimidating.  What if wine cost too much? What if I had no idea what the labels meant?  It’s a scary experience I can assure you.  The first time I went to the wine section of the grocery store I was amazed.  The prices were so low I figured there had to be a mistake; this had to be just fancy grape juice or something.  I think the first bottle I bought was 5 Euros which is about 7 or 8 USD.  Make no mistake; it did not taste like what a bottle of the same price would taste in the US.  I was stunned.  Most of the wine I drank was from the Bordeaux region which is one of the best in the world and it was so inexpensive, I figured the prices were low because it was in such abundance and nearby.  Whatever the case is, I was not complaining.

“Petit” dejeuner

A big breakfast full with eggs, bacon and pancakes is something foreign to the French.  In fact, their breakfast is so extremely different.  It may come as no surprise that the French like bread, so why not eat it for breakfast?  Baguettes, Nutella, jams, yogurts, beignets, croissants and many other chocolately, buttery delicious things are for breakfast.  Yet, French people are so thin.  Don’t get me wrong, if I could eat half a baguette smothered in chocolate dipped in coffee every morning, I would but, I would rather not feel the need to nap after breakfast.

School cafeteria options

Sometimes, ignorance is bliss.  Getting in line at the University cafeteria and reading the menu, not remembering what lapin meant was a good thing for many foreign students.  I personally would eat anything and I’m no Elmer Fudd looking to kill “wabbits” but some people have troubles eating what they think is a cute little bunny.  I don’t want to get too far away from my point here and that is that the school cafeteria regularly had rabbit as an item on the menu.  Read that again, I didn’t find it weird that people ate rabbit, it is actually quite good, what I found weird is that my student-subsidized lunch at a public university had rabbit on the menu, why not I guess.  And if rabbit isn’t your thing, you can wash it down with a couple of different wines because what kind of French cafeteria wouldn’t have wine for lunch?

Studying abroad is an incredible way to stand out on college applications, and with so many different programs in so many different places, you are offered an amazing opportunity to choose a program that fits you best.  In saying that, I urge you to study abroad; I implore you.  It is an experience that is unforgettable, and it is something that broadens your horizon not only in your everyday life but also for your future.  Studying abroad is an experience that should be had by everyone, because even that late night where you might find yourself sprinting for a train to Toulouse, is completely worth the adventure.

I studied abroad in Pau, France from August 2012 to May 2013.  Pau is a city about an hour north of Basque Country in Spain and an hour east from the Atlantic Ocean.  The initial reason that I wanted to go was to learn French in its true environment.  I had taken French in high school and in college but, it did not compare.  With that said, during the course of my time in Pau, I realized that my desire to learn French was hardly the reason I wanted to go and to go for an entire year.  I undoubtedly learned an immense amount in the classroom about the language, the culture, the people, yet the things I learned outside the classroom are the lessons that stick with me every day.  It is something I feel is so important that I wish everyone to have the same opportunity as I did.  With that, I am going to list 5 reasons to travel abroad.

1. Firsthand experience

I am a nerd.  I love school and spending time in the classroom and in the library.  However, anything I have studied about a foreign place, culture or language does not compare to actually going there.  The Sagrada Familia in Barcelona is the single most mind-baffling man made creation I have ever seen, and anything on the internet or in a book simply cannot do it justice and for that reason, when I went to go see it. I didn’t dare try to take pictures.  It is an amazing feeling to see something in real life that renders you speechless that can only be done when you see these things abroad.

2. Learning from the Source

While I went to class in Pau, I was taught by French professors who specialized in teaching the French language to foreign students and to anyone who has taken language classes. There is a huge difference between learning from a native speaker and a non-native speaker.  That is not to say that your American foreign language professors cannot teach you as well, but the difference is that there are many things that an American professor simply may not know.  Idioms are a great example:  Esprit de l’escalier which translates literally to “spirit of the staircase” is used when someone thinks of something they should have said in a conversation after it took place (which would actually be cool if that were also an idiom in English).  Idioms are something that may not be known by an American professor.  This does not only apply to languages.  Politics, history, geography are all examples because the professors who teach their language and their culture will know more for the simple fact that they have lived there and they grew up with it.

3. Know thyself

While abroad you begin to really figure out who you are and learn that your likes and dislikes were actually shaped by your previous environment.  To the south of Pau are the Pyrenees Mountains.  As someone who grew up in Wisconsin and went to college in Chicago, nature was not the most important thing to me.  I have only seen mountains one other time in my life and my preconception of “nature” was just farms and corn fields.  These notions came to an abrupt halt once I felt like I was in a scene of Lord of the Rings, minus the long-flowing hair and magic, unfortunately.  When you go abroad you are in a completely different environment and the only two things in the world that are familiar all over are Facebook and McDonald’s.  With that being said, you need to accept different circumstances, different ways of life and thinking.  You may even begin to accept these differences as norms, as I did.  For instance, I am now a firm believer that every meal should be accompanied by a baguette.

4. Collecting Memories and Experiences

It should be known that going abroad isn’t all fun and games, often times you have to work or study while you’re there, you have to prepare homework, establish yourself in a completely foreign place, etc. However, these are all experiences and memories that, although some may have been bad at the time, hindsight is 20/20 and those awkward situations become great memories.  On the day of my placement test, I got hit by a car biking to school.  After deciding which language to yell in, after remembering French body vocabulary, after getting healthy, I instantly realized that although it was an inconvenience, it was also a great story to tell and it certainly has helped me be a much more careful person.  Every experience is good because it shapes you as a person and helps you grow and when you are in a situation where you’re lying in a French hospital trying to remember the word for “hip” you have time to think about how that experience can prepare you for anything.

5. Learning a Language

As I have said earlier, I went to learn the French language.  Languages have always been a passion of mine and I had always dreamed of going to France specifically.  It is amazing what even a month can do to improve your language skills, and in our ever-globalizing world we often lose sight of the importance in knowing other languages.  Yes, English is the universal language but, let me promise you that that does not mean that everyone speaks it nor cares to learn it.  There were many times when I would have loved to speak English however, once abroad, I came to terms with that not being the case.  Not being able to speak the language fluently or even that well is an extremely humbling experience.  At time you feel helpless, less confident, and lazy but once you do put in that effort and you do start to have a real good understanding there is no better feeling.  “If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his own language, that goes to his heart.” ‒Nelson Mandela