Thanks, Shiyi! Hilarious example (in hindsight; in the moment it must have been so embarrassing). Reminds me of a story told by a Japanese woman whose non-Japanese husband was trying to compliment the food at dinner with extended family; he tried to say something like “This is delicious” in his less-than-perfect Japanese but what came out was “I masturbate a lot” … you can read the full story is in this book chapter:
Takahashi, Kimie. (2010). Multilingual Couple Talk. In David Nunan & Julie Choi (Eds.), Language and Culture: Reflective Narratives and the Emergence of Identity (pp. 199-207). London: Routledge.

Thanks, Randomcastmember! Good suggestion although I doubt that simply exchanging one platform for another would do much good … by the same token, many young people simply ignore letters – in most apartment blocks the area around the letter box is full of letters that no one ever claims or that go straight into the bin …

This kind of communication could erase platform barrier in public health communication since the majority of people can access letters sent to their address. However, the language medium barrier is still questionable in this case. It is true that there are some translations (20 languages) on the letter, speakers of languages other than the 20 languages would still struggle to understand this letter, in case they have low English proficiency. Therefore, I think the traditional way of letter communication is workable but there should be more inclusiveness of other languages to ensure that there are as little language medium barrier as possible.

Couldn’t agree more! We need to consider language barriers and how to bridge them holistically; a large number of translations are usually neither feasible nor useful …

Oh no, that’s a real shame. I hope something worked out for them. I wish organisations that know they contact people with limited abilities in the host country’s language would take more steps. I’ve taken to asking people (friends, my old host family, people at the cafe I often visit, or international centres that offer free services) for summaries of the content of some letters. I think that if you don’t speak the organisation’s language and they don’t speak yours, it helps to have a support network that does.

Thanks, Ayesha, for sharing! Glad the post resonated with you. Agree that social media can be super-helpful but more inclusive communication in everyday life is indispensable.

Thanks, PurebearJo! Do you have the reference for this study? Would love to add it to my collection of reports about communication during the covid-19 crisis …

Congratulations, Kelly! I’m so pleased for you that your language learning journey is working out for you! And teachers are wonderful – glad you appreciate Luke, and also that he was there to help!

Great initiative, Abdulla! The club sounds like fun!

A student who knows their stuff so well is not a bad problem to have!

Thanks, Minnie! You raise a different side of this coin. I couldn’t agree more that the idea that including English in signage in non-Anglophone countries is automatically inclusive. It’s inclusive of the most privileged migrants (those who we like to call “expats”) but exclusive of less privileged migrants and locals. We really need to stop thinking about English as panacea: sometimes it is helpful but often it is also part of the problem …

Thanks, Suyeon! Glad you found such a good friend in Natalie! As you say, the thing is that it should not be a matter of luck whether an individual newcomer can bridge language barriers or not. The school could easily institute a buddy system for their exchange students, where everyone gets a guide like Natalie. This could be a great learning opportunity for both the newcomer and the buddy.