The document discusses the author's experience attending the French Language Village Lac du Bois in Minnesota as a child, which provided total immersion in French language and culture. This included 10 years of instruction, exchange programs, and study abroad experiences that developed fluency in French and German. The author was then able to work internationally for Medtronic, conducting meetings and business in French, German, and Italian due to the confidence gained from language immersion at a young age. The document contrasts high- and low-context communication styles between northern and southern European cultures and the importance of cultural sensitivity.

1. Global Language, Culture, and Community:
Concordia Language Villages and the Transformation of Consciousness
Chapter 9. Communicating with Confidence and Cultural Sensitivity in a Second Language
At the age of ten, my parents signed me up for two weeks at Lac du Bois, Concordia College’s French
Language Village. We drove up to Lake Carlos, near Alexandria Minnesota, from our farm in northern
Illinois. I did not speak a single word of the language although apparently I did a good job of
mimicking a French accent when I heard it on television or on the radio, hence the impetus for my
enrollment in the program.
When I arrived, not only did I discover I would be given French language instruction, but that I was
about to be exposed to the culture of France at the same time. My counselor, Jean-Luc Lahouze, was
from L'Haÿ-les-Roses, which I later discovered was very close to Orly Airport in the southern suburbs
of Paris. Jean-Luc taught me how to play pelote basque, a game similar to jai alai using a short
wooden “bat”, and one of his fellow counselors, Jean-Pierre, instructed me in the finer points of “le
foot” or what we call soccer. Jean-Luc and I became pen pals, including during the time he spent in
the Ivory Coast doing his “service militaire”. I am quite certain my French was abysmal at this point
in time, but we somehow managed to communicate.
We sang French songs, including grace before and after meals. We were required to speak only in
French between the opening and closing grace. The penalty for speaking English was a fine of ten
centimes (yes, we used French currency, as well), which supposedly went to a local charity. Berets
were awarded to us after the first week for scholastic achievement in this foreign tongue, which were
proudly worn by the recipients. We were completely immersed in French language, culture and way
of life.
A decade later I had spent nine summers at Lac du Bois and had taken the equivalent of six years of
high school as well as four advanced level semesters of college French. By the end of that time
period, not only was I fluent in the language, but quite knowledgeable about the culture and political
make-up of the country. I also had the opportunity to spend a summer in Austria as an exchange
student and had developed a fluency in German.
At the end of my second year at the College of St. Thomas, I did a summer abroad program in Aix-en-
Provence, France, focused on studying Business French, Comparative European Governments and the
Common Market, now known as the European Union. At that point I was completely comfortable
conversing with the locals in French. I also began to learn about the Provençal culture and cuisine,
eating pan bagnats (basically salade niçoise sandwiches) and learning to make ratatouille and cous-
cous (not from Provence, but from the former French colonies in north Africa). By my senior year I
was leading groups of high school students on two-week trips to France during spring break. While I
was fluent in the language, I was not necessarily adept at dealing with teenage girls, either at home or
abroad. My fluent French did come in handy when it came time to pry American girls away from
French boys at “la discothèque” when it was time to leave.
I graduated from St. Thomas and started working full-time for Medtronic, Inc. in the international
division after having done an internship during my senior year. In those days, the headquarters for
Europe, Africa and the Middle East (E/A/ME) was in suburban Paris. I took my first trip to Europe a
few months later, first to Kerkrade, the Netherlands and then to Paris. Everyone had told me not to
worry about going to Kerkrade because everyone there spoke English. The taxi driver meeting me at
the airport, however, did not. While I know the post World War II relations between Germany and
the Netherlands were not very cordial, in desperation I asked the driver if he spoke German. He
responded immediately with relief “Ach, Sie sprechen Deutsch?” Little did I know the Limburg
dialect was very close to German and that Kerkrade had a very close relationship with Herzogenrath,
a neighboring German town just across the border.
From Kerkrade I traveled on to France for meetings in our E/A/ME headquarters on avenue Charles
de Gaulle in Neuilly. When I met with the marketing manager for France he was overjoyed to find out

2. Global Language, Culture, and Community:
Concordia Language Villages and the Transformation of Consciousness
Chapter 9. Communicating with Confidence and Cultural Sensitivity in a Second Language
I spoke his native tongue. In those days very few Frenchman spoke much English and it was a
definite advantage for me to speak their language. Many of my meetings on the trip were held in
French, not to mention all interactions with hotel and restaurant staff, airport personnel and the
wo/man on the street.
Later in my career I had the opportunity to live and work overseas a number of times. My
experiences included postings in London, Hong Kong, Paris and Milan. With the exception of Hong
Kong, I was able to develop a high level of fluency in the local language everywhere I lived. While you
may scoff at that statement when applied to England, I can assure you there is validity to the
quotation from the playwright, George Bernard Shaw, the United States and England are “two nations
divided by a common language”.
So you may be asking, how did I ever achieve the level of confidence required to hold meetings
completely in a foreign tongue? First of all, the immersion approach taken by Concordia Language
Villages tends to put one at ease with the language. When one eats, drinks and sleeps in a foreign
language it becomes second nature to an individual. To be fair, this was augmented by 10 years of
high school and postsecondary training and study abroad in France, but as many people have found,
classroom learning alone does not always give one the self-assurance to conduct a discussion in a
foreign tongue. I can think of a number of individuals who can “read” French, but cannot “speak” it.
There is no substitute for being plunged into in the language, culture and community of a country.
Short of actually going abroad for an extended period of time, I cannot think of another option
besides the Language Villages.
It is also very important not to be intimidated while speaking a foreign language. In my opinion, the
biggest mistake a person can make is to hold back and not speak, for fear of making an error. As we
all know, people learn from their mistakes. Based on my experience I have found that, almost without
exception, people greatly appreciate the fact one is making an attempt to speak their language, in
spite of whatever errors might be made. Personally, I ask people I know well to correct me when I
make a grammatical blunder, so I might learn from it and hopefully not make the same mistake in the
future.
As for communicating with cultural sensitivity, again this is extremely difficult to convey in the
classroom. In addition to the nuances and subtleties in an individual’s tone, body language also
comes into play. There is absolutely no surrogate for interaction with a native speaker to learn these
intricacies. French, and southern European languages in general, are far subtler than northern
European tongues, including English for that matter. The concept of “high” and “low” context
cultures and languages should now be explained.
The anthropologist Edward T. Hall’s theory of high- and low-context culture clarifies the strong effect
culture has on communication. North America and the northern portion of the European Union are
low context cultures. People from these cultures appreciate direct interactions consisting of logical,
factual information. The intent and content of discussions can be immediately determined from the
content. There is little need for interpretation or reading between the lines and for the most part
“What you see is what you get”. High context cultures, such as southern Europe, Asia and Latin
America, are relational, value harmony and consensus building and are reflective. Developing trust
and building interpersonal relationships are essential in a business setting. Instead of focusing on
logic and facts low context cultures rely on intuition and context. A good example of this would be
interaction with a Japanese person while assessing the difficulty of a project or task. If a Japanese
responds an undertaking is “very difficult” (especially while taking a deep breath before responding)
a North American might think it is achievable if enough time and resources are allocated to the
project. What the Japanese individual is really saying is that project is “impossible” and that it will
never be achieved regardless of how much time and money is thrown at the project. Their culture
really does not allow them to say “no” and admission of failure is looked on very negatively.

3. Global Language, Culture, and Community:
Concordia Language Villages and the Transformation of Consciousness
Chapter 9. Communicating with Confidence and Cultural Sensitivity in a Second Language
After a number of summers at Lac du Bois, I began to appreciate the high context nature of the
French culture. For example, when one excuses oneself to a French person, a common response is
“Ce n’est pas grave” literally meaning, “It is not serious”. Descriptions of restaurant offerings can be
flowery and poetic in France. Rounds of beef are “tournedos of beef floating on a cloud of pureed
potatoes”. Germans, on the other hand, basically give you the ingredients. “Schweinshaxe mit
kartoffeln” is pigs’ knuckles with potatoes, plain and simple. While part of the French’s elaborate
food descriptions can be attributed to the importance they put on food and eating a significant
portion is also related to their high context culture. The French also tend to be very close with their
butchers, underscoring the focus on good food, while also showing the importance of relationships in
France, as in the rest of southern European Union.
Butchers hardly exist in this country any more. When you buy a cut of meat in France the butcher
typically will ask you a series of questions about how you plan to use it. The average American might
find this as an invasion of privacy. The French know these questions are only being asked so the
butcher might choose the perfect cut and prepare it appropriately for the way in which it will be
served. This concept is almost totally foreign to those of us in the United States.
Indeed, interactions with shopkeepers and business people in the “south” of Europe are very
different than in North America. You would not think of entering a shop without greeting the
personnel with “good morning” or “good evening”. As a matter of fact, the further south one goes in
Italy, the earlier the “evening” starts. In Rome you could say “buona sera” (good evening) any time
after the midday lunch break. Another thing to keep in mind is the store employee’s view of the
world is they really do not have to do business with you if they do not wish to do so. Building a
strong relationship over time helps the individual to want to do business with you.
I tend to be quite direct when I speak English, perhaps even more than the average American, and I
have been told I am a much softer person while speaking French. Much of this I attribute to the high
context nature of the language. It is nigh on impossible to be as direct when speaking French. The
perception of me being a softer person would not be possible without having interacted with French
native speakers in an immersion environment. I have also been told I am a very “European”
American, again due in par to my language villages experience.
While living and working in foreign cultures I have undertaken just about every task one could
imagine while operating in the local language. It has already been mentioned I have attended and
conducted meetings in foreign tongues. I have also hired and fired people (both in French and
German). Because of the regulated nature of the medical device business I have met with European
regulatory bodies and conversed with the employees in their own language. I have attended church
services, parent-teacher meetings and had various social interactions all in the languages of the
countries where I lived at the time.