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
DC
I love this! I spent a month living in Spain and a month in Puerto Rico and loved learning the language while I was there. Still, I feel like I lose most of what I had learned once I return to America and have nowhere to practice it. I like the Study Spanish website, thanks!
I have studied three different languages in classes (Spanish, German, and classical Greek), but I feel the best way and by far the easiest way to learn a language is by living where they speak the language. I will admit that, like Julie, I have forgotten much of what I learned because I have not practiced it. However, when I lived in other countries, sometimes I found myself thinking and dreaming in the “foreign” language. I also think you get something even more important than another language by living abroad – you encounter another culture and new ways of understanding the world.
Buenos Dios Senior y Seniora y Senioritas;
Espaniol es muy buen para todo Esatdo Unitos ..
Guten tag, mein heren und damen wire Deutch spraken und das ist gute fur alles.
Auf weidersein
Daag meiner,,Daag mavrow
Ohio guziamas…Sayanara
all language is fruitful to learn and to practice as much and as well as we can.
In my travels to many countries and even different states its so important to attempt to speak in the language of the country..
I will never forget driving into Zaragoza, Spain and realizing after a few encounters with the locals that NO ONE spoke and or understood English… it was speak Spanish or perish.. The same was true in smaller cities in Japan, France, Germany and Holland. When we tried to speak only a few words of the native languages we found that people would become our friends and would THEN try to speak a little English..
The world is getting smaller and we should be ambassadors for Christ by speaking in the language of those we come in contact with…
Tot Ziens…
I think learning another language is a great way to bridge the cultural gap between people groups. If we are to reach the nations, our American ethnocentric belief that everyone in the world will speak English must be demolished. Take a class, read a book in another language, or set up a conversation hour at a coffee shop to engage yourself and others in a fruitful journey of learning another language!