A Polyglot speaks many languages.
While I find the hobby of learning languages is an ebb and flow of remembering and forgetting, I have experience with eight languages and in each I have been able to (at some point) have a simple conversation. It is a process of seeking patterns, memorizing words, and a willingness to make mistakes.
I am always working on bettering these skills. and often in this continual learning, it strikes me that building vocabulary and speaking sentences doesn’t always result in the ability to always get across the right message. I can pronounce all the correct sounds and still not be understood, or I can understand the gist without understanding the cultural reference, or a phrase's deeper meaning.
This can happen even within the same language when certain words might trigger one response in a specific community, and a different effect for another. The concept of Love means something specific to a devout Christian, but not to someone secular. The concept of Police or Army might elicit a trauma response or bring about thoughts of safety and security. How we speak and how we hear have a good deal to do with who we are.
If we want to bring about change on a global scale, how we speak and how we listen matters. Those who need change need to be able to be heard. The people who are in a position to make change need to be able to hear all the voices in the soundscape. How can we ensure that when we listen, we really hear what that person is saying, not only from our perspective, but also from theirs?
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