On Learning Languages

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I'm an Italian native speaker, I don't remember exactly why I chose to study foreign languages. It was an instinctive gesture, something you like, without really knowing why.

At 16, at school, I had to choose two languages and I chose Spanish and English. They both looked so beautiful to me and their sound fascinated me. In English I already knew a few words, thanks to the songs, while in Spanish I knew very few words. I continued to study the same languages at university as well.

I'm talking about the 90s - 2000s and at home we didn't have internet until 98, so the only information was school information and the radio to listen to the songs. Here's what happens.

The beginning

There are many similarities between Spanish and Italian, which is very encouraging at first. It's easier to write and read, and you learn the pronunciation earlier, even if imperfect, but acceptable. The beginning is exhilarating and fun! You manage to produce meaningful sentences and make yourself understood!

On the other hand, English is like an alien language from another planet. Your tongue and mouth refuse to make certain sounds, and your brain just can't relate them to written words. Not to mention when you first discover the meaning of the songs you randomly hummed, as well as discovering that your pronunciation was incomprehensible to humans and you think maybe the alien is you!

False friends

Halfway through the process, when you've studied the basics of grammar and learned a decent number of words to introduce yourself and tell something, your brain and your ear join together to play jokes.

You may have heard of false friends, those foreign words that look a lot like words in your language, but have a totally different meaning. False friends are the ones who are always ready to make you look like a stupid, they really put their effort into it.

At this point in your life, English isn't so bad. There are false friends, but there aren't many and you learn to recognize them. Also, when you're saying something and you miss a word, you start taking a long speech to describe what you have to say. Which makes you look a bit slow, but it trains you to talk! It's like in those games where you have to make the other team guess your word without ever naming it! Since you lack that word you are forced to make a speech with other terms, verbs and adjectives to explain yourself! All earned.

Instead, Spanish, your old friend, the one next door, starts cheating on you. While speaking in Spanish, when you don't know a word, you don't even realize it. Your brain throws in words that "sound good", they can be false friends that have a different meaning, or they can be Italian words that have nothing to do with Spanish, to which, to hide them well, you even add some random "S" at the end! Needless to say, when you realize this you feel like an imbecile!

Adrift

School ends and… you have no one to talk to. Apart from a few lost tourists that you want to help, but if you haven't spoken Spanish or English for months, your language is blocked and you end up speaking in gestures. Yet you did the university, what a shame!

The study of languages is no longer a study, it is entrusted to the flood of information on the internet, very useful and fantastic, but without a guide. So you learn perfectly what the parts of a car are in Spanish, or how to cook lasagna in English, but you can't explain what you do without making mistakes in grammar...

You learn a lot of words, but the verbs are terrible. Because you can read so much, but if you never talk you never fix the topics in your mind.

Writing is a bit like speaking. It forces you to bring up what you already know and mince words if you can't. You can help yourself with online dictionaries and translators, and then with automatic correction systems.

There will still be many errors or phrases expressed incorrectly. Just like in this long article!

However, languages have taught me many things.

Communicate. I've always been very shy, and the problem with languages is that you have to talk! Talking to the teacher, talking in class to people you've never seen or know little about at first. And usually, to help you, they don't ask you about topics like rocket science, but they ask you about yourself, your family, your hobbies, the things you know in short. Total panic! Not only do I have to talk, but do I have to talk about ME?

Synthesize. When you know a few words in another language, you tend to synthesize. There are no beating about the bush, long preambles, you say what you have to say. This can have two consequences: you can seem sincere and practical, but you can also seem too direct and rude. So you learn to say words like thank you, please, I'd like, it's possible, my opinion is... I'd say I'm less kind when I speak in Italian!

Ask. Sometimes we take so many things for granted. A person speaks and from what they say or do not say, from how they behave, from how they look at us, we draw conclusions, we fill in the blanks. It's a natural attitude, but sometimes dangerous because we attribute things to people that they haven't actually said and probably they don't think.

When we listen to someone speak in another language it is all too difficult, too complex and we are often forced to ask: "Do you mean this?" To confirm that we have understood correctly or have misunderstood. Now I learnt to ask even when I speak in Italian, from time to time, to get confirmation, especially about things not said.

Choosing words. Sometimes we just talk, like a river of words one after the other. I learned that in our native language there are many things that we take for granted. Studying foreign languages has helped me to know Italian better and to communicate better in more situations. And choosing words more carefully when talking to someone. Of course this also depends on age and experience, but I think studying foreign languages has made me passionate about my own language too.

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If you are passionate about languages, I would like to know your opinion!