What does this quote from Nelson Mandela mean?

If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart.
~Nelson Mandela

Does that mean that if you use his native language it will touch them?

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  1. Because you have taken the time to learn his language and it shows that you care about communicating with him.

  2. It means you have too much time on your hands.

  3. It mean,,,that white man speak with forked tongue Kemo Sabay !

  4. It means that if you simply communicate with someone they may understand, but when you go out of your way to speak in their language they notice that.

  5. He was referring to Afrikaans, the language of the South African people. The people who set all of the rules and regulations did not make them in their native language. Basically, they did as they were told, but hated it (Apartheid)

  6. My understanding of my brother Nelson; is that If you can speak to someone in the colloquial manner that they maybe accustomed too then you are in tune with their heart and the formation of their being.

    I have never been to South Africa so I think I would struggle to comprehend the cultural dynamics and truely connect as a South African because I have been "schooled" as a worldly person via a kiwiana perspective. I am lacking in Experiencing culture in context first hand.

  7. I live in Catalonia. Catalonia is part of Spain. Catalan people have their own language, different from Spanish. But Spanish people that live in Catalonia don’t want to learn Catalan anyway. They say Catalonia is bilingual, because we are able to speak two languages. But reality is different: Catalan people speak two languages (Catalan and Spanish) and Spanish people only speak one language (Spanish). So, main relationships are conducted in Spanish. It’s a way to show their domination. Main Spanish people would like only one language in all the country. So, Spanish people that try to speak Catalan are very well received by Catalan people, because we may think they don’t want to eliminate Catalan language and they don’t feel “above” us. I suppose this must be also one of the meanings of this quote.

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