Have you ever had the opportunity to spend time with someone who speaks a completely different language to yours? I once spent a whole day with the grandmother of some German friends. Grandma spoke no English and I spoke no German but before long we were giggling like children. I helped her unpack the dishwasher and decided to make a game of saying the name of each item in English as I picked it up. Grandma repeated after me in English and then said the name of the same item in German and I repeated after her. By the time we’d gone through all the bowls, plates, cups, spoons, forks etc as well as the cupboards and drawers we put them into, we were in stitches.

I’ve posted a short video for you of another fun day I spent in Salzburg, Austria, with a Russian woman I met on the train from Innsbruck. Somehow, through little more than gestures and smiles, we decided to spend the day together. We went sightseeing, had lunch in an outdoor café and then strolled through a beautiful park on dusk, where we were drawn by these playful buskers. Vlad spoke to me in Russian most of the time and I spoke to her only in English. I hope she understood a little more of what I said than I understood of her, which was not a single word, but we had a joyful day.