my parents were right about something
Back when I was in high school, I suffered through many nights of too much homework. One of the classes to consistently give me the most homework was Spanish, and I used to complain about this quite a bit.
Back then, I remember my parents telling me that my education in Spanish was likely the most valuable thing I was receiving from high school. And because I attended public high school, that Spanish education was free. My parents said that one day I would look back and be very thankful for the chance to learn a foreign language so well. Of course I doubted what they said, as I was extremely introverted during my high school years. Communication with people was not such a high priority for me back then.
But now I am a much more social person, and I understand what my parents meant. I wouldn't say that Spanish was my absolute most important class, but I put it right up there with my chemistry classes. I would actually take it so far now as to wish that I studied more foreign languages when I was younger. I really value communication with other people now, and knowing a foreign language opens up so many more possibilities there.
I notice that many times I have these feelings of inadequacy, living in the Bay Area and only being able to speak English well. There are so many people here who are bilingual or more; so lucky to grow up speaking both English and Spanish together, or Chinese, Vietnamese, Thai, Tagalog, and more.
I feel like I have wasted a lot of time, especially recently, as I have not been working full-time. Watching the news or just sitting around being lazy. So many more worthwhile things I could be doing. I want to make a commitment to doing more useful things, including studying more languages.
On top of my list of coolest languages:
Japanese,
Italian,
and Portuguese!
These languages strike me as very sexy and sophisticated.
But opening up the door to communicate with any additional group of people is something I would value very highly.
Back then, I remember my parents telling me that my education in Spanish was likely the most valuable thing I was receiving from high school. And because I attended public high school, that Spanish education was free. My parents said that one day I would look back and be very thankful for the chance to learn a foreign language so well. Of course I doubted what they said, as I was extremely introverted during my high school years. Communication with people was not such a high priority for me back then.
But now I am a much more social person, and I understand what my parents meant. I wouldn't say that Spanish was my absolute most important class, but I put it right up there with my chemistry classes. I would actually take it so far now as to wish that I studied more foreign languages when I was younger. I really value communication with other people now, and knowing a foreign language opens up so many more possibilities there.
I notice that many times I have these feelings of inadequacy, living in the Bay Area and only being able to speak English well. There are so many people here who are bilingual or more; so lucky to grow up speaking both English and Spanish together, or Chinese, Vietnamese, Thai, Tagalog, and more.
I feel like I have wasted a lot of time, especially recently, as I have not been working full-time. Watching the news or just sitting around being lazy. So many more worthwhile things I could be doing. I want to make a commitment to doing more useful things, including studying more languages.
On top of my list of coolest languages:
Japanese,
Italian,
and Portuguese!
These languages strike me as very sexy and sophisticated.
But opening up the door to communicate with any additional group of people is something I would value very highly.