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The two phases of my life,
before learning a foreign language and after.
- Alok Arora
Having been born and brought up in India, I could always speak two languages, English and Hindi. Whilst I was bilingual (like many others in India), I was still one in the crowd. I did not differ from anybody else, I could not broaden my horizon more than anybody else. I had no foreign language (for those who don’t know English is also the official language of India).
Having studied in London (arguably one of the most cosmopolitan cities in the world) for four years, I could hear a lot of different lingos and tongues. I was made aware of what more was out there and probably what I was missing out on. Even though the idea of learning and speaking another language deeply interested me, the scare of learning another language since “it is too difficult”Â, the laziness, also the feeling that what is the point I already speak English like a native and I can speak my mother tongue Hindi as well (At this point in life I cannot believe I had this thought process) made me think there is no point in learning a foreign language. I could not be more wrong. Four years of University passed by and I made no serious attempt whatsoever of learning another language. This is possibly the biggest regret of my life!
I took a trip to Spain in the summer, having finished the finals at University. I experience a new culture. I had such a great time communicating with the people. I made amazing friends, but there was a huge gap since I spoke no Spanish. I had an urge to learn the language and the fact that I had a 10-week vacation to look forward to before I went into my work life, made me follow the urge.
I got hold of some audiobooks but I found it next to impossible to learn through them. I found a master at my hometown, who I felt held the key to languages. He made it look so simple and within 8 weeks brought me to a good conversational level. I was able to think in Spanish. I was not fluent but I could hold a good conversation. I never had to memorise anything and I have not taken any more Spanish lessons since.
I moved back to London to start my work life. I realised I was a changed person. Speaking Spanish made me so happy, that’s all I ever wanted to do (I did my work also, of course!) and after a couple of drinks that’s all I ever did. London, has no shortage of Spanish speakers both native and as a foreign language. I never found it so easy to make friends or get along with people. As soon as I would find someone who even remotely spoke the language, we would strike a chord in no time.
Soon I realised I have opened myself up to a whole new world (Those wanting to know how it would feel to enter a whole new world, like visiting planet Mars, experiencing what I was may give you a bit of an idea). I had missed out on so much! Now I could communicate with all the people I could not communicate with before. It opened up new doors. The native speakers would brighten up whenever I spoke with them regardless of the fact whether they spoke English or not. They would really open up, and that’s when you experience a new culture and it can make life so much more exciting.
I like to think of it like this; before I spoke Spanish, I could only experience a small percentage of the word. It’s almost like watching a trailer to a film. After Spanish, my potential to experience the world grew by a 100%, it just doubled. I was able to watch the whole movie.
This struck me when I decided to take another trip to Spain, to Barcelona this time, to visit the friends I had made during my previous visit. The communication and the interaction this time was out of this world. They now looked at me as one of them. The inhibitions that were there earlier were gone. I met their friends and their families and all of them immediately took an admiration for me. They were such sweet and warm people I felt great meeting all of them. Not to mention all the places I visited, I would not even know about as a regular tourist. This is not the Spain I had visited, this was the real Spain, this was the whole movie and it was like a whole new world.
Whilst I liked being admired, of course, talking and interacting with all the people gave me new perspectives, new opinions, it broadened my horizon deeply. The Spanish language gave me friends for a lifetime. It took me to a whole new level as a person. I could communicate and get along with people in general. It made me so much better at my job.
Amongst Indian people, the desire to learn a foreign language can be laughed upon. However, one fine day, sitting in my office in London I got a call from my father. He sounded a bit worried. The production in his factory had stopped due to some issue with the machinery. The engineer who came to fix the problem was Italian; he spoke no English and a bit of Spanish. I had a conversation with him and explained to my father the problem, translated how to get the plant up and running and there we were. The problem they had been trying to understand the whole day was solved in no more than 5 minutes.
A few moths ago I was in South America. Whilst we covered Buenos Aires and Peru like a breeze and also got to experience the culture and this “new world”. Moving around Brazil was a bit of an issue, I missed out! I am now learning Portuguese and I am getting the same feeling again when I speak to some of the friends I made there. This is again a whole new beautiful world I was missing out on. But miss out, I wont the next time I go there!
Make sure you don’t miss out, there is so much to see, to experience, so many thoughts to share, so many different kinds of people to meet. Think of it this way, you may speak English apart from your mother tongue, but if someone communicates with you in your own language you feel closer to them, more open, more relaxed.
Only now I understand this quote by Nelson Mandela
“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.”Â
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Make sure you understand it too! And if you don’t already, now would be a good time!
