The Importance of Communicating Clearly with Others

It is crucial to have the ability to communicate with others without a language barrier. If the ability acquired does not exist, one may face challenges throughout your life. Some challenges may include misinterpreting an individual, and having difficulty completing an important task. In the book “Little Bee” by Chris Cleave, one of the many protagonists Little Bee, faces a dilemma where she needs to learn the Queen’s English in order for her to survive in England as a refugee. She believes that if she learns the Queen’s English, people would treat her with greater respect and take her seriously than her fellow refugees. I can relate to Little Bee’s dilemma because I occasionally have trouble speaking with my grandmother in my native language, this is why I pursue to learn it. Although Little Bee and I face similar and different dilemmas, Little Bee learns the Queen’s English not only to gain respect, but to survive in England. I learned English to earn an education for my future. Furthermore, both Little Bee and I can relate to how important it is to have the ability to communicate with others fluently and effectively.

One reason why Little Bee wants to learn the Queen’s English is so that she could build a higher self esteem for herself and to be able to survive in England. She requires assurance that being fluent in English will help her blend into society. In the book Little Bee says, “No, it is not the Queen's crown and scepter that rule in your land. It is her grammar and her voice. That is why it's desirable to speak the way she does” (Cleave, 3). This quote depicts how Little Bee believes that learning the Queen’s England could give her security in her life, by having authority and confidence in her voice. She wants to...

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... not know English very well. As soon as he hears Little Bee’s voice, he made the assumption that she was a British civilian. Little Bee and I can relate to each other because we both have the desires to speak better in our languages in order to build up our self esteem and gain confidence like the Queen. We both believe that if we could communicate well with others, people would view us in different perspectives, just like how Little Bee changes the taxi drivers point of view.

Thus, both Little Bee and I believe that one should have a strong foundation in speaking the required languages because it make us feel important to others and could also make us feel better about ourselves. Although we have similarities, our major difference is that I learned English to pursue my education, whereas Little Bee learned the Queens English to be accepted in the British society.