Story by David (BBO: david_lida)

We all know the card game Bridge is played around the world and in many languages. I’d like to tell you about my experience. My lovely wife and I married about four decades ago and shortly thereafter lived in Lesotho, which many of you will know is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It has a population of around two million people and is reputed to be the highest country in the world – on the basis that its lowest point of 1500m is higher than the comparable point in all other countries, but I digress.

My wife was born in what was then Czechoslovakia and hence her mother tongue is Czech. It was compulsory to learn Russian in those days and she spent 14 school years toiling with the intricacies of that language. When she married this Pommy of course she had to develop her mastery of English and that she has achieved admirably, however her linguistic skills were truly tested when she agreed to learn Bridge. We joined a group of a dozen people being taught by Paddy (an Irishman) and Gerard (a Frenchman) – this was truly an international group.

We persisted with lessons for several weeks, but soon developed a routine which for us involved returning home each evening and my wife asking, “So David, now tell me what they said tonight” and I realised that she had understood little. Thinking about it, the tutors were talking in my wife’s third language, but with a strong Irish accent and an even stronger French accent, so it was obvious to me it was very difficult for her to understand what was being said. It formed the basis of a few humorous evenings together.

It’s true to say the language of Bridge is international and since those early days we have played in English, Afrikaans, Russian, Czech and Portuguese. No matter where we lived, finding the local bridge club was always the second thing (after only accommodation) we would focus on, but always resulted in many enjoyable evenings spent with like-minded people. Bridge has facilitated our coming together with many new friends from around the World and because we have always partnered each other we have benefitted with a much stronger marital bond. Unfortunately, my wife is losing her eyesight, so after playing together for 40+ years we must now make the most of social bridge, although I play in our local club in Tasmania.

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