Sunday, May 12, 2013

A New Adventure Begins: The Beauty Of Learning A New Language


     In a way, learning a new language is kind of like discovering a completely different culture than the one you’re from. Although it could sometimes difficult and complex, in the end it feels like you’ve discovered whole new world. Up till now I’ve discovered two languages to their utmost potential. And it was time to commence a new adventure into a diverse world.

     “Language is the road map of a culture. It tells you where its people come from and where they are going.” - Rita Mae Brown.

     There are two main reasons why anyone would want to learn a new language. The first and most obvious is that we want to enhance our life experience, get a chance to discover something new (you liar, you’re only doing it cause it would look good on your resume).

     The second reason would be that you’re flat out bored and you have a lot of free time so you might as well do something useful – like yours truly.

     When first starting the process of learning something new, one tends to feel as if s/he is taking their first steps as a child. It’s pretty much the same learning experience in everything new we do.

     When it comes to new languages, first you scrabble through words and sentence structures. You mash your words together, you hesitate, you stutter through even your most simplest of sentences. Trying to put together a logical sentence just seems too overwhelming of a thought that it sometimes seems too damn impossible.

     In the end though it is the love of learning something new, the thrill that you get when you accomplish something, that makes us persevere and endure till the end. Maybe it’s the native tongue of a loved one, or the language’s literature, or simply the way it sounds.

     In any case it is definitely the love of going on an adventure that pushes us through many frustrating hours of the learning process. “One language sets you in a corridor for life. Two languages open every door along the way.” - Frank Smith.

     So don’t be afraid to learn new languages other than your mother tongue. Any language!  Trust me, you’ll find a pleasure when finally you can express yourself in various means. But don’t forget to practice your new learned skill or else it won’t honestly last that long (I’m only saying this through past experiences).

     We are entering a whole new world of communication. Meaning everyone on this planet is pretty much connected with each other. Of course it would be easier if we all speak one language. But if you really want the true experience, there’s simpler no better way of communicating with one’s native language.

     “If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his own language, that goes to his heart.” - Nelson Mandela.

2 comments:

  1. nice, ur right that ppl dont bother of are sometimes afraid to learn a new language. what are you learning? jap?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Actually I'm learning Spanish, It's closer to French which I already have a good background on. But I'm definitely going to learn Japanese as well. Just when I get my hands around the Spanish first :D

    ReplyDelete