Una Mexcla de Idiomas y Ideas, Parte I
A Mixture of Language and Ideas Part 1
A Rough Draft
There is nothing more beautiful and amazing to me than learning a new language! This opens the door to communication and more important, culture and better understanding to a way of life. New vocabulary provides building blocks and give insight into what is valued. I love to discover how words fit together to make a sentence! What words are emphasized? How intricate is a language? How do you pronounce it? How is it used? These are all adventures to me … and no matter how imperfect I am in repeating or writing what I hear and see, it still fills me with wonder when I learn a foreign language…
Probably the focal point of motivation for me when I learn a new language is “immediacy.” That means I can try it out right away – put what I’m learning to the test. I think it’s the same for everyone. Do I need this language to be understood right now? Is it necessary in my life? If so, why and how? Then, go to it!
I studied Spanish in high school for four years but that immediacy was not there. So the vitality didn’t exist. Like most students who study a language without putting it to use, it felt separate from my real life. Divorced, you might even say. The words sounded beautiful and I still loved how my thoughts came together, but it missed that extra leap to become an integral part of my life.
In college, I adapted my Spanish to a hands-on class of Portuguese. I used it on a mission campaign and to this day, I still remember memorized phrases. It opened the door to my communication with Brazilians for one month. What joy I felt in drinking “tinto” ( small cups of very strong coffee, similar to expresso) and eating “bocadillos!” (appetizers). Language and culture are inseparable.
When I moved to South America, Spanish danced in my head. The relevancy came back. Spanish took on a deeper beauty and sound to my ears. Although everyone could hear that my Spanish was imperfect, I still communicated and made friends. I couldn’t roll my rrrs, but the mastery of other parts of the language excited me. I started to absorb culture through my study, and when I traveled through the country, or countries that spoke Spanish I became confident.
Tomorrow, a mixture of languages and countries ...
