Berget Forum

Question, I'm an American and I understand that there was not that many of us at the last game. My question is how do we bridge the language barrier. I mean unfortunatly in American schools, unlike European schools, we don't stress foreign language. I know my German is rusty and my French and Spanish sucks, I hope to rectify it but still what if there is a man in you unit who doesn't speak a language you speak. Thanks.

English works most of the time. Occasionally you will need to track down a translator.

Thank you sir for your quick reply! Good to know.

And if you could learn finish that would be usefull against SRP hahaha

hahhahah unfortunatly I don't think my college offers that

Or learn Russian for the merc side. Geez - none in the HQ knew english xP At least at the time we wanted to get backup for our capture of the Traveler's Lodge. Which we of course did not get, and in turn, Nato f*cked our cute little butts..
(Don't get me wrong. This is a funny story, not a negative one)

And for the NATO side you need to speack french english portuguese swedish spannish, german, hebrew, italian and greek !

So now for B8 you need to speack all of this languages

no english make it, we all have notion of english or someone who speack english next to you that's ok

kjsaw wrote:English works most of the time. Occasionally you will need to track down a translator.

Sez the Ozzie!

As long as the translator isnt from SKÅNE!

Spoken language is the obvious thing to think about here as the OP highlights. For sure, it is vital for success.

However bridging any language barrier uses many forms of communication ....

Make use of body language, maps, twigs and stones on the ground used to explain a plan, slow down any spoken words and keep it simple and above all, bring a clear and committed willingness to engage and be part of the team.

Encourage the same back through your conduct and actions and this almost always overcomes any 'limitations in spoken language'. This is my experience both from Berget and elsewhere.

Granted, conversation back at the base may not be free flowing but you'd be surprised what can be achieved.

I found speaking English in a ridiculous French accent worked well when talking with Geboren.

Conger Out

Hey Colin23451, were you at Berget 7 too? I saw a ton of American patches but stopped asking people if they were American after a few hours and they all turned out to be from other countries.

Anyway, with the language barrier thing, I really didn't have too much of a problem myself. Of course, not everyone spoke English but there was almost always someone on hand or nearby that could translate or get the point across.

vardemis wrote:And for the NATO side you need to speack french english portuguese swedish spannish, german, hebrew, italian and greek !

So now for B8 you need to speack all of this languages

no english make it, we all have notion of english or someone who speack english next to you that's ok

Sorry, you forgot Dutch, Czech, Polish and Arabic.

And also...Bretzh, Wallon, Flamand...

Cdt Delta wrote:And also...Bretzh, Wallon, Flamand...

lol wallon and flamand is international