My Thing: The story of my love affair with foreign languages

I grew up in Honduras, which similarly to (although certainly not nearly as extensively as) the United States, is from its very conception, a melting pot of different cultures. Just to use myself as an example, my father’s family is from Palestine, and my mother’s family can be traced back to Spain and France. Furthermore, I had the fortune of attending a bilingual school, where English was the “official language,” so to speak. All of my classes, except for the ones on Spanish literature, Honduran History, etc., where actually taught in English. During high school, I had the opportunity of interacting with people from all different walks of life. Some of my best friends were from China, Mexico, Poland, and South Africa, just to name a few. It’s also important to note that I have family in the United States and that ever since I was a little girl, I’ve always traveled back and forth between the US and my own country. Suffices to say, even though I hadn’t really been aware of it at the time, I actually had a very international upbringing.

When I was 18, I started attending Tulane University in New Orleans, which is, as many of you know, a city that has a significant French influence. It was here where I actively started to learn foreign languages. I say actively because even though English isn’t my native tongue, I acquired it rather passively, since I did start learning it a very young age. During my second semester at Tulane, I took beginner’s French and completely immersed myself in the language and culture. I was always listening to French music, watching French films, reading newspapers in French, etc. Because of its similarity to Spanish, I found that I was able to quickly pick up the language. I was actually enrolled in more French classes for my second year at Tulane, but alas, life had other plans for me. In August 2005, Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, leaving in its wake much catastrophe and devastation (and a temporarily shut-down Tulane.) So, I decided to enroll at FIU in Miami, in order to not lose a semester. Why FIU and Miami, you might ask? Well, the decision came quite naturally because I had relatives in Miami who were willing to put me up and FIU had been my older brother’s alma mater. I tried to enroll in French classes at FIU, but all of the French courses were completely full. I decided that since I was at a new university, having a new beginning, I should challenge myself by learning something new and exotic, as well. I’d always been interested in Japanese culture and I’d heard that the Japanese language program at FIU was respectable, so I signed up for beginner’s Japanese.

The more I learned about Japan, the more I fell in love with everything related to it. During the summer of 2007, I actually studied abroad in Japan, and until this day, I continue saying that it’s been the best experience of my life. Learning Japanese has been one of the biggest challenges that I’ve ever decided to undertake. As is, I’m aware that I’ll probably never get to speak Japanese as fluently as I speak English or Spanish. However, I knew from the minute I opened my first Japanese textbook, that it would be a life-long journey. But, that doesn’t mean that I haven’t made significant progress in it. In 2008 for instance, I was actually certified by the Japanese government after having passed Level 3 of the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT.) Nowadays, I go from periods in which I’m very committed to studying Japanese and I actively learn new grammar, vocabulary, and Kanji, to periods when I’m just passively reviewing it, by watching Japanese TV shows, listening to music in Japanese, etc.

So far, I’ve mentioned 4 languages with which I’m fairly acquainted with, which leaves me only one: Italian. Because of its similarity to Spanish, I always felt that Italian would be a relatively easy language to learn. That belief actually still holds when it comes to the reading and listening components of it. The writing and speaking parts… now that’s a different story. I took an online class in beginner’s Italian back in 2006, and I will admit that it probably wasn’t the best decision I’ve made. First of all, it was only a six-week course, which meant that there wasn’t much material covered. Secondly, it was an online course, so there was no classroom interaction at all. Although I passed the course with an A, I wasn’t satisfied with it. But, I did get a basic introduction to Italian, and despite everything, I fell even more in love with it. Whereas Japanese sounds to me as being very matter-of-fact, honorable, and dignified, Italian appeals to me for its sensuality. For me, Italian is incredibly passionate and melodic – you just want to get lost in the sounds. Anyways, it wasn’t until fairly recently that I decided to pick Italian up again. The difference is that this time around, I haven’t been focused on memorizing vocabulary, or learning grammar rules. I’ve actually been taking a decidedly slower and more passive approach. So far, I have to say that I’m quite pleased with the results. My reading comprehension has improved significantly, to the point where I’m actually reading books in Italian (and I’m not talking about children’s books here.) And although I might not know the meaning of absolutely every single word on the page, I can quickly figure out the meaning of those that aren’t familiar to me by contextual cues, which I think is extremely important.  

In addition to those that I’ve already mentioned, I’ve dabbled in a few others, such as Croatian and Russian, the latter being a language that I’d like to focus on more in the near future. As you might’ve picked up from what I’ve said before, I find that language immersion is key. In fact, there are some people who’ll argue that the best way to learn a language is not by memorizing vocabulary and grammar rules, but by picking up the language naturally, as in by listening to it and trying to imitate the sounds. (This is how we all learn our mother tongues.) Personally, I’ve found that it’s a combination of both active and passive learning that helps the most, but I’m not here to sell you any strategy. Everyone has to find what works best for his or her particular situation. I will say that before sitting down with a textbook, it’s extremely important to familiarize yourself with the language. Take some time to just listen to the sounds, read up on the language’s structure and history, etc. Also, you must prepare yourself to put in the work that’s required. Language learning isn’t an innately difficult task, but it does require a lot of hard work and effort. I’ve found that most people fail in their language learning endeavors, not because they aren’t “talented” at picking up languages, but simply because they’re not doing what needs to be done.

Some say that learning a new language is like acquiring a new soul, and as overly romanticized as this may be, I’ve found that it may be somewhat accurate. The term “soul” can be defined as: the seat of human personality, intellect, will, and emotions, regarded as an entity that survives the body after death. You’ll quickly realize that once you’ve started to learn a new language, you’ll want to learn everything about the culture associated with it, as well. Therefore, learning a language can help you become better acquainted with a culture dissimilar to your own, helping you maintain an open-mind with regards to people from different walks of life. At the end of the day, this is probably the aspect of language learning that appeals to me the most. Being able not only to communicate, but also understand, the lifestyles and philosophies of people from other countries and continents. As I said before, this is a lifelong journey for me. Some people find that certain “things” just click with and work for them. For some it may be fashion, or literature, or rock climbing, etc. And though it took me a while to truly realize and accept it, this is my “thing,” and I’m extremely thankful for meeting people (especially those of you who are reading this right now, you know who you are) who not only share my passion, but are incredibly understanding and supportive. I encourage all of you to find your own “thing.” Trust me, life gets much better once you do.