There seems to be a disconnect between the U.S. and the rest of the world. In the states, most people who have lived here their whole lives seem to be comfortable with where they are. From what I have experienced, most people don’t have the drive to want to learn a new language because English is all one ever needs to communicate in this country. In my opinion, that surely seems to be the wrong mindset being that there are over 7,000 spoken languages in the world.
Communication
Growing up, I have always had a passion for learning languages because I was always curious as to how the rest of the world lived. I see languages as an insight into different lifestyles that are influenced by history and celebrated by culture.
Although, my biggest influence on language learning came from my mom, a language teacher. She has studied seven different languages and is fluent in most of them. It brings me chills every time I say that because I can barely hold down a third language.
Languages fascinate me because of the different alphabets, sounds, expressions, and tones used. I see language learning as a mental exercise; you are forced to think in reverse, such as rearranging your sentences so that the subject comes first or after in a sentence. It is almost like training your brain to think and see things from a different point of view.
Language doesn’t just come from reading, writing, and speaking. Language is cultivated from personality, attitude, and body language. Take ASL (American Sign Language) for example — I’ve never met more expressive people than those who sign for a living because of their need to convey a specific tone without the help of voice. Although, one could argue that Italians are just as expressive since the use of hands is absolutely necessary. No questions asked.
English and Spanish were both my first languages. I attended a bilingual school while growing up in Mexico. Worried that our English wouldn’t be at the same level as the Spanish that we spoke daily in Cuernavaca, my mom made it a point to talk to us only in English at home. Most of the Disney movies and Hollywood Blockbusters we watched were in English, but Cartoon Network was always in Spanish; it was rather strange hearing Johnny Bravo and Courage the Cowardly Dog in English for the first time.
Once we moved to the U.S., my sister and I studied Mandarin on top of everything else, and Spanish soon began to fade away from me. As a young kid, my brain was like a sponge that allowed me to soak up information with such ease. Although, I found that the more I was exposed to English and Mandarin, little by little my Spanish diminished. It wasn’t until I decided to revisit Spanish in high school that I discovered my love for the language that I once knew so well as a kid. It was as if this file of information was kept behind a dusty shelf and had been dormant in my brain for so long. Everything came flooding back to me. I remember feeling so ashamed and embarrassed that I had ever forgotten my native tongue. From then on I took every chance I could to keep it up.
Influence
The more I travel and see the world, the more I notice how far behind the U.S. really is. America is a diverse country full of immigrants; many who aspire to fit in by studying English in hopes to have mastery of the language someday. Somehow, someone somewhere invented the rule that being American means speaking English — as if that was the official language of the U.S.
Our schools, for one, are held back by an education system that is stuck in its old ways. America is lacking language skills and it all starts with our public school systems.
Why is it that most high schoolers that choose to study a language for a few years never finish class with intentions that are bigger than, “it looks good on college applications?”
The bottom line is that there is no motivation nor importance emphasized in maintaining a multilingual background. Although you can find various private schools with an emphasis on bilingual education, I feel as though public schools need funding to start multilingual education from as young as preschool.
If we could normalize languages in America as part of our education, then maybe it might be easier to bridge a gap between cultures. To study a language is to study a people and understand their way of life. The end goal is not only to be able to communicate, but to learn respect and appreciation for those people.
I know for one, hearing “drinko de mayo,” has always bothered me. Those very people that have ever said that in their life are the very ones that need to be educated on the Battle of Puebla. Heck, they probably think that is our Independence Day in Mexico. Spoiler alert… it’s on September 16th.
Hybrid And Mixing
Most bilinguals and polyglots can agree that keeping a brain full of information can become a jumbled up mess at times.
Your brain thinks in one language to translate it into another.
You start speaking in a language that is not the same as the person who in which is speaking to you.
Maybe you are speaking in the correct language, but the phrasing of a sentence is that of another language.
The list can go on.
Spanglish is the most common for me in terms of mixing. I find that it is popularly used in Southern California because of the many different generations of Spanish speakers with varying levels of either language. In any case, Spanglish has become a language on its own. Many Spanglish speakers can agree that oftentimes one can express themselves better by saying a phrase or expression in Spanish and vice versa.
There are just certain words in various languages that can fill the context of a point one is trying to get across better than that of the language they are speaking in.
When one knows multiple languages, it is a matter of what pops into their head at that very moment that births a hybrid of languages. Then of course there are bilinguals and polyglots who prefer to purely speak in one language at a time to not confuse themselves. I agree with this when you are first starting out with a new language. Only after you have mastered some fluency can you have some fun with it — without overdoing it of course.
Picking Up A New Language
As strange as it sounds, our mouths develop muscle memory from the way they move when we speak in order to produce sound. This is the reason learning a new language can be rather daunting and extensive as an adult. Our mouths are discovering new ways of clumping unfamiliar sounds together; something we haven’t had to do since we were toddlers learning how to speak.
In the summer of 2017, my mom, sister, and I spent a week visiting different parts of Italy. Our trip consisted of visiting Milano, Bologna, Roma, and Cinque Terre, in that order. A week of cultura e buon cibo made me realize that the next language I wanted to learn was Italian. Ho cominciato studiare italiano perché amo la lingua e il paese. The perks of it being similar to Spanish made me more confident in being able to pick it up. There were times when I was ordering at a restaurant and would forget how to say something in Italian, so I would use Spanish instead. How beautiful was it that the employees were able to understand me and I was able to understand them, for the most part. Emphasis on “for the most part.” Don’t be fooled. Spanish and Italian still have their many differences, but already knowing a Romance language helps tremendously.
Practice Makes Progress
The many mistakes that come with learning a new language are frustrating but well worth it in the long run. When learning a language, there will always be room for improvement, as you will never stop learning. Even English is an ongoing process for me. Learning a language is a constant balance of retaining new information, as with anything that we do. All it takes is some discipline and practice… tons of practice. While we are still in quarantine, this could be the opportunity to revisit a language or start learning a new one. When we can all travel again, I hope this inspires you to experience the world through the beauty of language.