I took Spanish for two years in Jr. High and two years in High School…and I didn’t know more than “HOLA” by the time I went to University. Like many others I took a second language because I was required to do so by the public school system. The memories I have of Spanish class are a blur, but I do remember one distinct thought: “I’m never going to need this, so why bother?” That thought was soon followed by another: “I can’t learn this language, it’s too difficult.”
How wrong I was on both counts. Later in life I spent 7 years working in South America and I was pushed head-first into Spanish. In essence, I was force-fed a second langauge. To my great surprise, I learned that if I was interested in communicating with others I could be motivated to learn Spanish. Even greater surpise was that I came to love the language.
Nearly five years removed from my work in South America, I actually miss speaking spanish on a daily basis. Yet I know that many Americans are very particular about speaking English only. Let me encourage you, learn to speak another language. It will broaden your horizons, help you understand the challenges of being an immigrant, help you communicate with millions more people, open job opportunities, and give you an incredible feeling of satisfaction.
Here’s a few statements I’ve heard from folks who are resistant to learning a second language.
I won’t use it: You’d be surprise how many people you run into speak another language and how many ways it will help you. Once you begin studying a language you find multiple ways to use it.
It’s too hard: For adult learners especially, our thoughts, words, and ideas tend to follow well worn paths. Struggling to learn a second language can feel like wacking down brush in a jungle to create a new path: slow and difficult. Yet this is one of the primary advantages I’ve found to making the effort. It stretches your brain into new territory. Trying to read a paper in spanish used to be slow going for me, I certainly could have done it faster in english, yet it was so mentally refreshing to push through those barriers and feel like I was learning something totally new.
It doesn’t make sense: Many Americans believe that english is the most logical language. They believe this primarily because they’ve never studied another. Spanish, Italian, and French are all more orderly and systematic languages than English. Don’t give up if you don’t understand the system, once you learn the first steps in these languages and get a picture in your mind of the structure, you will able to learn it quickly.
English is the international language: I love english and operate much, much better in it, yet I must tell you that there are many parts of the world where english won’t get you anything but a suspicious look. Let me encourage you to make your world a big world. Learn another language, even poorly, and you will be richer for it.
Here’s a link to a spanish website. Poke around the web and see what interests you. In addition, I’m curious about what have been your experiences with learning another language. Post story or response.
DC
