Letters Home

Looking back on my life, I realise there have been numerous people and opportunities sent across my path that could have been excellent teachers if I had just seized these opportunities. My dad was an expert in the technical field and with repairs. If I had only paid more attention, I would have created better plans to resolve my maintenance problems. I would also have had fewer cooking failures as a young married woman if I had helped my mom more in the kitchen.

As a Kalahari kid, I never learned to speak English properly.

I can think of many examples, but one challenge that visits me for a second time is my lack of language skills. As a Kalahari kid, I never learned to speak English properly. Reading English books was perceived as a nuisance that interfered with my precious social time. Those days we spoke Afrikaans even in the English class, so why would I bother? If I could only have a quick look into the future, I would have changed my attitude!

The London opportunity came like a thief in the night

Language-wise, things went smoothly for a while. After school, I went to an Afrikaans university and then started working at an Afrikaans office with Afrikaans clients. The London opportunity crept up on me like a thief in the night. Hubby wanted to complete his Master’s degree at the London Business School, and I applied for a job at the London PwC office.

We boarded the plane for my first international flight. We travelled very lightly with just a handful of possessions for two years of studying and working in London. Upon our arrival, we stopped at the London office to finalise things for my start at the office. The shock of my life arrived when they informed me in a very polite British manner that there was no way they could expose me to their clients with such poor English!

I still get nightmare flashbacks of myself in a red London phone booth

Here we were in London, hubby must commence his studies, and I did not have a job! I still get nightmare flashbacks of myself sweating in a typical red London phone booth. The pounds and pennies fell through the payphone as I tried to convince one recruitment agency after the other, in my limited English and very Afrikaans accent, of my financial knowledge and skills.

The Lord must have felt sorry for me and sent a team of angels to my rescue. With my self-esteem in pieces, an unexpected message from PwC informed me that they would allow me another interview, but this time for an internal role. Internally, they might be able to accommodate me.

A fellow South African came to my rescue

My interviewer was, fortunately, a fellow South African who felt sorry for me. I am grateful to have ended up in a team responsible for the roll-out of audit software, which we have already used in South Africa. The team I worked in consisted of quite a few people from other countries like Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.

Initially, my colleagues and I struggled to understand each other. For all my sins, I ended up in a role where I had to present classroom training on the use of audit software. I also had to assist staff members with their software problems over the phone as part of a helpline.

I was known as the French girl because my English was impossible to understand

My first training session went terrible, and the evaluation feedback damaged my already bruised ego. The people who contacted the helpline started asking for the French girl because my English was impossible to understand. There was no chance of giving up, and my English slowly improved. I knew things were turning around when I suddenly started praying in English one night before bed.

The surprise on my colleagues’ faces after my first presentation back in South Africa was good for my ego. I am very grateful for this painful learning experience. The world has changed rapidly since my school days, and I would not have been able to make any progress in my career without this English language proficiency. I was hoping to pick up the British accent, but unfortunately, the Kalahari is far too much in my blood.

I have to pass a German exam as a prerequisite for my Swiss visa!

Charl finally obtained his Swiss work visa, and Zander and I were able to apply for our Swiss residence visas. I was devastated when I read on the visa application that German, French or Italian language skills are a prerequisite for the Swiss visa. They introduced the requirement in January 2019 and gave new applicants a year to pass an A1 German language test to extend the visa. This situation feels like déjà vu!

I am not good with languages. I downloaded German children’s books from the internet and read about the “Easter Bunny Harry” (Easter Bunny Harry) and “Wenn es Sterne regnet” (When it rains stars).
My language brain pathways are overgrown. That is the reason for my headache after a German study session. I see this as just one of many challenges, and I will not allow it to overwhelm me. If you see me again, “dann werde ich sehr gut deutsch sprechen”!
Kind regards

Kind regards

Emsia