Learn someone's language

Ok so this is labour-intensive, or perhaps you might already speak another person's language.

But when people discover that another person speaks their langauge their hearts are usually very open - even better if you have visited their country - best of all if you have taken the effort to learn some of their language just for their sake.

I start coversations with people in Farsi and people are usually intrigued as to why an Englishman speaks it. A local shopkeeper is always keen to chat when I try to use my three phrases of Thai in his shop. A Turkish student felt welcomed to a language lesson when I welcomed him in Turkish.

Suggested by Andrew Parfitt