Language Barriers
On a recent trip to Europe I was forced to confront my own language barriers, as most travelers do. The spoken and/or written word can be a beautiful thing, and many languages have a melodious quality that can enrapture the ear. Conveying a message? That’s another challenge.
Although I am semi-competent in greeting people in French and German, that is the extent of my ability. From there I resort to pantomime and other visual cues. Fortunately we have become a visually savvy species. We communicate very well with our gestures, our facial expressions, etc. Charlie Chaplin knew this over 90 years ago when he created the iconic “little tramp” that spoke to the world in silence.
Today, with the ability to capture and texture images through video technology, we can communicate around the world.
Have a story to tell? Tell it to the world.
August 26th, 2008 at 3:46 pm
Fantastic post Tom… thank you!
As a matter of fact, in the online world (which obviously is global), we are seeing a sweeping trend of web sites using videos as opposed to the written word to communicate their message… And if done right, in my opinion with much more effectiveness. Hey what can I say, the television has spoiled us and made us more visual.