ACAS

Language learning

It is still best practice for all long-term staff to learn the local heart language of the target population and it may be very desirable for short-term staff to at least start learning it. The "heart language" is the one that people learn first as small children and continue to use in the home and in intimate relationships. They may use a different language in school or in business, or for relating to the government.

The reasons are:

The heart language is necessary if CD is to be done at grass roots level, and especially if it involves interpersonal work such as counseling.

Rural communities and close-knit urban fringe-dwellers still use their own language for all personal communication.

The heart language reflects their culture more closely than national or trade languages.

The heart language reflects ethnic identity. Learning their language is a major pathway to acceptance, as it demonstrates commitment to their ethnic identity.

If you use indigenous art forms, the heart language is usually the most appropriate.

Many experiments in the 1990s to circumvent heart languages generally failed and the current trend is back to learning them.

Two questions

Can you use your own language and work completely through interpreters?

Seldom. They only really work for fly-in fly-out experts. If you want to live with local people and communicate with them, interpreters don't work.

Can you ever use trade and national languages?

Yes, but it depends on the circumstances:

They can be the only practical choice when there are many small local dialects.

They are appropriate for most technical advisors. (In fact, the heart language might not even have enough technical vocabulary.)

The government may require that you use the national language.

Institutional programs use the language that is most suited to running institutions.

A national or trade language might be very dominant, especially in cities among the educated and mixed race.

Your project might identify with the trade language, such as entrepreneurial and some microcredit projects.


Can you use your own language and work completely through interpreters?	Seldom. They only really work for fly-in fly-out experts. If you want to live with local people and communicate with them, interpreters don't work.

Can you ever use trade and national languages?	Yes, but it depends on the circumstances: They can be the only practical choice when there are many small local dialects. They are appropriate for most technical advisors. (In fact, the heart language might not even have enough technical vocabulary.) The government may require that you use the national language. Institutional programs use the language that is most suited to running institutions. A national or trade language might be very dominant, especially in cities among the educated and mixed race. Your project might identify with the trade language, such as entrepreneurial and some microcredit projects.