Inspirational and heart-warming story on BBC Radio 4 Today programme on the French singer, Barbara's song, Goettingen. Sung entirely in German, this song came out shortly after a treaty was signed 50 years ago between France and Germany to enshrine post-war reconciliation between the two countries and as the story states, the combination of the lyrics, the musical setting and above all her conviction did so much to rebuild bridges between the two nations. On a more prosaic level, the lesson of this song is clear for business, too: if you speak to your European customers in their own language you're bound to get a more sympathetic hearing than resorting to a form of global English.

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