This famous remark which was made by Nelson

Mandela during negotiations in the Apartheid era

in South Africa, enabled him to explain why he
learned Afrikaans, the language of his prison
guards. Indeed, he thought that being able to
speak their language would help him greatly
during negotiations with white leaders.
Through with thanks to this !uote, Mandela not
only underlines the importance of language as a
communication tool and a means of expression ,
but also as an embodiment "lencarnation# of the
culture of the nati$e speakers. %y saying so , he
meant that if someone talks to a foreign person in
a second language , they&re talking to his brain.
%y contrast, if they talk to him in his mother
language, what they say goes straight to his
Fill in the blanks with words from the tool box.
Linkwords on top of that - in other words - indeed - not only - as
- by contrast - instead of - thanks to as a consequence - in the
same way - but also
Verbs can-encourage - help give - allow - enable - be able to
Moyen means / way
by through with
heart ' In other words, it means you are more
likely to touch someone by using his mother
tongue instead of a foreign language.
(n top of that , talking to someone in his own
language is a way to show him respect, and with
respect comes understanding. )anguage allows a
feeling of common origin and shared $alues
among the nati$e speakers. As a conse!uence, if
you try to express yourself in their nati$e
language, then you can be one of them as you
show that you care about their customs
"*traditions# and culture and you are willing to
learn about their history for example. Thanks to
foreign languages, we are able to break barriers
in communication. In the same way, Tim belie$es
that foreign languages gi$e him the opportunity
to connect with nati$e speakers and get a better
understanding of their history, traditions and
cultures. Through the medium of language, he
can not only relate to another person, but he also
feels closer to her. +e strongly belie$es that
foreign languages enable allow mutual
understanding and encourage progress by
bringing people close together'