Become a Polyglot

I’m learning Spanish right now, but would also like to learn French, German and an Asian language. I’ve contemplated others after that, such as Russian, Arabic, Farsi or Irish Gaelic, but I think I’ll concentrate on the list I have for the next few years and not get too ahead of myself.

German
Portuguese
Arabic

(for now)

Currently, I only really have an emotional connection with Arabic and Portuguese words – they mean something to me whereas I do not feel engaged when learning German. I will leave German on the backburner for now but maybe once in a while I will learn some vocabilary and try to develop a relationship with it (maybe once a week). It isn’t my priority language though.

Given the nature of the graduate plan of study that I intend to follow, and of course given my own personal language enrichment ambitions as well, I have become increasingly concerned with the language proficiency level either goal requires. As such, I am entertaining the prospect of a post-baccalaureate/certificate program in the classic languages, e.g., The Catholic University of America, UC Davis.

To be socially responsible you must become surrounded in the other culture, traditions and languages.

I could go anywhere and be anyone if I could speak more than a few languages. I would be fabulous.

I am now fluent in German & Spanish and am going to start Italian classes this year. It’s so nice to travel to Germany and be able to speak to them in their own language. People are much more welcoming towards you as well. As an American (of Mexican descent) I think the Germans are particularly impressed because they believe Americans are generally ignorant and uninterested in the world around them. Not true – as we all prove – and some of us really do want to connect with people from other countries, especially when we’re on their turf. I’d also love to learn French, Arabic, Japanese and Latin too! I think languages are key to being a true citizen of the world. There’s no way you can truly learn and understand a culture without learning their language.

Made it to the bare minimum of three. Maybe I’ll add French to the list, who knows, I might need it in the future. Japanese also kind of calls out to me, too. It would be nice to know more of it apart from what I already know from reading menus in Japanese restaurants.

And contrary to what some people think, learning a new language—no matter how useless or obscure—is never a waste of time.

Working on it!! :)

Most of the really educated people in the world can at least speak 3 languages to some extent – therefore, I believe it’s time to get out of this American slump and place myself on at least the same level as an average European in linguistic education.

A few weeks ago, I was in West Cork in the South of Ireland on holiday. One afternoon I stumbled upon the local bookshop. Even though it was very small, I decided to go in and have a look. The majority of the shelves were dedicated to books about Sailing and fishing, but I managed to find a very small reference section. I found a Polish phrasebook and started looking through it. I loved it immediately, so I bought it and a small Polish dictionary. As soon as I got back to our house I started studying them. When I got back back home I bought an audio course and a larger dictionary, and now, thanks to a random encounter with a bookshop, I’m studying Polish. I’m going to Germany for the in two weeks for the first time, so I bought a Berlitz Phrasebook and have started studying some phrases. I feel like I’ve made so much progress on this goal in so little time