佐々木：トム君、幼稚園で友達ができましたか？
スペンサー：ええ、子供どうしは言葉が話せなくても通じ合うようですね。
Sasaki: Tomu-kun, yoochien de tomodachi ga dekimashita ka?
Spensd : Ee, kodomo dooshi wa kotoba ga hanasenakute mo, tsuuji-au yoo desu ne.
Sasaki : Has Tom made any Mends at kindergarten?
Spencer: Yes, it seems children have a way of understanding each other even when they can't communicate through language.
tsuuji-au means to understand one another.
The number of foreign students coming to Japan with their families has increased recently. It is good that they choose to bring their families with them, because I don't think it is healthy to spend a year or two away from them while studying in Japan.
However, the problem more and more of them face is the language barrier. Unless a male student's wife also learns Japanese, for example, it is difficult to enter into the local community.
One of my students, Mr. Spencer, put his eldest son, who is five, into a day nursery as soon as he came to Japan. Both parents are here as students and the son was worried about not being able to speak the language at first, but Kodomo to iu no wa, otagai ni tsuuji-au to miemasu (It seems as if children have a natural ability to understand one another). And when he comes home from the nursery, he has all sorts of stories to tell about the fun he had that day.
Kotoba ga hanasete mo, otagai ni tsuuji-aenai hito mo iru (There are people who, even though they speak the same language, are unable to understand each other). And that doesn't just apply to foreigners. The same thing can happen between Japanese people, too. When you think of it this way, Tsuuji-aeru nani ka wo motte iru koto wa, subarashii to omou (Having the ability to understand each other is a wonderful thing).
I saw a strange thing on TV recently. An 18-month-old child was taken into the sea, held by a swimming instructor, and a number of dolphins came up to the child and handed him some seaweed that they'd brought up from the ocean floor. The child laughed happily and grabbed the seaweed from the dolphins. Apparently, dolphins see seaweed as a child's plaything.
Kotoba wa tsuujinakute mo, otagai no kimochi wa tsuuji-otta no daroo (Even without a common language, they seemed to have understood each other's feelings). It was certainly a very moving moment to observe.