"As I look back at my fall semester at Wesleyan, I have to laugh at my naiveté. Sitting in Spanish class, I would roll my eyes whenever the teacher introduced new material. Between classes, I’d complain to other classmates about how hard we had it in Spanish class.
Then I came to Denmark.
Danish, the language of the country in which I now live, is one of toughest languages on earth. A primary foundation of this language is the concept of “udtale-reduktionerne,” or, word pronunciation reduction. This means that although a word could have twelve letters, it may only be one syllable. While pronunciation is daunting, it is entirely necessary to living here. For the first few weeks, I couldn’t say the name of my bus stop, “Hummlebakken.” Until I learned how to say the name of the stop, I spent hours on city buses, lost and confused, looking for my way home. Luckily, I have met many of the bus drivers in town, who help me get where I need to be!
While my Danish is not exactly flourishing, my English speaking skills have granted me opportunities I hadn’t anticipated. I am currently tutoring several Italian exchange students, who invite me to dinner for weekly lessons. They feed me authentic Italian food while I teach them things like the parts of the body, and how to use “ing” at the end of words. They tell me, “You are so lucky you speak English! We wish we were born speaking the language everyone wants to learn!”
While I enjoy helping them with their English, I can’t help but feel a bit guilty. Nearly every international student I have met speaks multiple languages. It is disturbing to me to think of how much my classmates and I (at home) complain about having to take a foreign language course, when, in fact, speaking more than one language is becoming necessary to compete in an international job market. Yes, it is true that English is becoming stronger internationally, yet somehow I can’t shake the feeling that we Americans are taking advantage of already knowing the language. By not learning other languages, we allow opportunities to learn about the rest of the world pass us by.
While studying abroad is a good time to travel, sight-see, and, of course, “live it up,” it’s also a time where I have learned to step out of my comfort zone. I am more diligent now with the language I am taught by other international students, whether it is Danish, Spanish, or Italian. The most valuable thing I will take away from this experience is learning to appreciate other languages and culture, no matter how difficult. I regret not spending more time at home practicing my foreign language. When I return, I’m going to try not complaining about Spanish. Rather, I hope to be more devoted to learning another language, and becoming a better-rounded and internationally aware individual."
Yup...that's it! Let me know your thoughts on this subject, eh?
Also, here is a picture of me and my Spanish-speaking friend, Marysol, and we are on the bus. It's only appropriate :)
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