what is language barrier

A language barrier refers to the difficulties in communication experienced by people or groups originally speaking different languages or dialects. It can impede the formation of interpersonal relationships and cause misunderstandings that lead to conflict, frustration, offense, violence, hurt feelings, and wasting time, effort, money, and human life. Language barriers can occur in various settings, such as multinational meetings, where interpreting services can be costly, hard to obtain, and prone to error. In the medical field, language barriers generally occur between patients and medical personnel when a difference in the native language is present, or the patient is hearing-impaired. Poor interpretation may lead to negative relationships with providers and interpreters as well as decreased compliance with treatment. Some common examples of linguistic barriers include people from different countries interacting with one another, people in some countries having a different way of greeting, and people using different dialects or accents. Overcoming language barriers is essential to effective communication, and it can be done through various means, such as learning a new language, using translation tools, and simplifying language use.