Sport: A Universal Language

Millions of people all over the world enjoy sport, whether they enjoying taking part in it, or watching it. This is one of the reasons that sport is such an effective way to meet new people and make new friends: even if you don’t speak the same language, you’ll be able to communicate through your shared interest.
I am one of those millions of people who love sport, with climbing and running being my main activities. So it made sense that after I moved to France to work in a school that I should try to continue to do both. I succeeded in finding a running club, and somewhere to climb, and after being here for only three weeks I have already got so much out of climbing and running with French people.
Going to the French running club for the first time was a bit daunting. What if I couldn’t understand them? What if they couldn’t understand me? I needn’t have worried. As we were getting ready for our run, the heavens opened and rain came pouring down. Rather than speaking a different language, it was clear we were all thinking the same thing: are we really going to go running in this weather? We decided yes. Looking out of the window at the heavy rain, you could have been forgiven for thinking that we were mad to go running in such weather! I felt more comfortable with my fellow runners straight away, and it was through shared enthusiasm for running that we became friends.

By: Saksham Gupta
Content: https://learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org/magazine/sport/sport-universal-language