Voy a España en la primavera para aprender la idioma y experimentar la cultura allá. Estoy muy emocionada por la experiencia y espero que volver con fluidez española en el otoño….
(I am going to Spain in the spring to learn the language and experience the culture there. I am very excited for the experience and I hope to return with spanish fluency in the fall.)
Do you know what that sentence says? Or perhaps what language it is in?
Unless you study Spanish or have grown up speaking it in your household the words above may have no meaning to you. Relationships are made through language. We communicate our feelings, share stories and learn through the use of words.
Barriers are erected when people do not share a certain tongue, handicapping our ability to understand people of other cultures. In order to grow our understanding toward different cultures it is important to learn the medium that literally gives us a voice to share with others.
I have been studying Spanish since my first year at Keene State College and I am finally studying abroad in the upcoming spring semester! But, my college years were not my first experience studying a foreign language.
I started studying French in seventh grade with the promise from my mother that if I reached French four we would take a trip to France together after my graduation. The potential reward may have proved adequate to motivate another student, but after the first two years in French the initial excitement faded. I reached high school and found my desire to learn the language was absent. The class was difficult and seemed useless because as I thought at the time, “Where and when was I ever going to use French in America?”
Resonating on that question, my study habits began to sink and I found I was lost in class. I dropped French as soon as I reached my three-year graduation requirement, without anticipating studying a different language. However, those were not the goals laid out by my advisor. She informed me that I limited my options of colleges if I did not pursue language for the remainder of my high school, junior and senior years.
On her prompting I decided to sign up for Spanish. I expected to struggle in the class as my confidence in my ability to learn language was deflated. However, something happened that I had not expected. A teacher, Señora Duffy, a women many students held an intimidated respect for, struck a match on my previously hidden desire to be bilingual.
She conducted the class firmly expecting our best work while imparting passionate stories about Spanish as a language and Spanish as a culture.
Suddenly I found myself dedicating extra time to memorizing vocabulary and verb conjugations, looking to live up to her expectations. Slowly I learned and slowly I became enthralled with the idea of speaking another language.
Years later I find myself preparing to go abroad in disbelief that I have come to the brink of fluency. Learning another language, a task that I once considered useless I now view as imperative to becoming a better citizen of the world.
Tengo la anticipación de aprender más sobre la idioma que me ha cambiado mi vida. (I am anticipating learning more about the language that has changed my life.)
Anna Glassman can be contacted at aglassman@kscequinox.com
