¡Hola! ¿Alguna vez has estudiado un idioma extranjero? (Hello! Have you ever studied a foreign language?)
Just to briefly introduce myself: my mother language is Japanese, but since I grew up attending an international school in Japan, English is now my native language as well. I have also studied several foreign languages — other than English — throughout my life so far. I have mainly focused on learning Spanish, and although it is yet to master, I can now speak the Spanish language at an everyday conversation level.
Photo by Gerd Altmann
I still remember my first day at an international school. I was a five-year-old back then. The teacher was talking to me in English, and I didn’t understand most of the words she said. It was a struggle for me to adapt to the environment filled with an unfamiliar language. Fortunately, my English improved after a year, and I was able to communicate well with my teachers and peers in my second language. By being able to interact with people from many different backgrounds, I started to enjoy learning about the world’s cultures from various perspectives. Even to this day, I thank my parents and everyone else who supported me with learning English. I’m proud to be a bilingual, especially since English is a common language that helps connect people worldwide.
Ever since my high school graduation, my goal for college has been to master a third language. I’ve been craving to learn new languages because I believe that’s a great way to show respect to people from different backgrounds, and learn about their cultures more profoundly. I have enrolled for a few language classes, but I decided to mainly focus on learning Spanish, as it is one of the languages that is spoken by numerous countries. Mi viaje para aprender español con atención ha comenzado. (My journey to intently learning Spanish has then begun.)
Photo by Anne Karakash
Yes, I managed to take higher levels of Spanish classes in my later years of college. But no, learning Spanish has never been easy for me. Even though I’ve always received passing marks, I never did very well in any of the Spanish classes I’ve taken so far. There are colleagues who stopped learning Spanish, despite how they received higher marks than me on the Spanish exams. Those are the times when I question myself, should I continue to learn Spanish?
Sí, es importante seguir aprendiendo español, pase lo que pase. (Yes, it is important for me to continue learning Spanish, no matter what.) That is how I answer myself, and this why I now see myself preparing for the Spanish proficiency exam coming up very soon. I am actually extremely nervous about it, but even if I pass it or not, I promise myself that I will not give up on studying the Spanish language.
For those of you who are interested in learning a new language, one thing I recommend is studying abroad — a one-year exchange program in college sounds great — in a country that speaks that language. I’m sure that can help you adapt to that language quicker than only studying it in the classes in the country that you live in. By studying abroad, you can also develop your knowledge of the cultures from that country, as you will have hands-on experiences. Although I have never studied abroad at a Spanish-speaking country during my college life (and it’s a little too late for me since I’m in my senior year), I hope to make this dream come true someday after I become a working adult.
And one more important advice: once you start learning that new language, don’t take a long-term — meaning more than one month — break from studying it. I actually took a year off from studying Spanish, and albeit that I came back to it, it was difficult for me to catch up with it. This experience truly taught me that learning a new language is fun, but mastering it actually requires commitment.
¡Empecemos a aprender un idioma extranjero, todos! ¡Ánimo! (Let’s start learning a foreign language, everyone! Cheers!)