In America, as I packed and prepared for my upcoming gap year, I encountered two questions that I would like to address here. I wanted to talk about them for the sake of knowing why and what drove us to live so long in Morocco.
The first question: "What makes language learning important for my life?"
I find learning languages important for several reasons. For one thing, you can make deep connections with people, discovering differences and similarities in cultures that aren't necessarily printed in travel books. Also, the satisfaction that you receive from hearing somebody speak in another language and understanding it is extraordinary. I can only describe it to looking at a math test that you studied hard for, and finding that you know the answer to every question. What a great feeling that is. Lastly, language, especially when encountered in its native environment, opens up your world. All of the sudden, you have the ability to understand newspapers and television reports, people on the street, people with signs, people performing rituals, what or whoever. The culture starts to make so much sense. In Arabic, mostly all of the phrases, whether they be in response to a sneeze or a fresh hair cut, have the name Allah in them. Yes, you can see the mosques, hear the call to prayer, and encounter women covered from head to toe in veil, but you won't grasp how God is, in every way, apart of these peoples' lives, including the way that they speak and what they say. I find that fascinating.
The second question: It's often asked of myself and of my classmates, "But isn't learning Arabic really hard?"
I find this question intriguing. One, isn't learning any language, with all of its vocabulary, grammar, and nuances also hard? True, when learning a language that utilizes the same alphabet or characters that you use in your first language (that is, if you're first language is a written language), you have one less step. Afterwards, however, you're on an even playing ground with the rest of those who don't need to take that step. Two, does that mean that we should stop learning Arabic? The question seems to imply, "Why would you do something challenging when you could do something easier," which I find says something about the person's character. Or maybe, that person just responds in such a way because they have nothing better to say. Either way, I find it almost insulting to insinuate that I, of all people, should not be doing something that challenges me rather than bores me. That sounds a bit defensive, and I suppose it is, but after answering that questions twenty times, I've analyzed it. For future reference: Arabic is challenging (just like any other language) and yes, I'm up for it.
I hope that this blog clarifies any questions of motive that you readers might have. I'm sure there are plenty of other ones, but these two were the main ones I encountered. I would like to encourage anybody to take up a language whether they're 13 or 53. Just consider the possibilities!
The first question: "What makes language learning important for my life?"
I find learning languages important for several reasons. For one thing, you can make deep connections with people, discovering differences and similarities in cultures that aren't necessarily printed in travel books. Also, the satisfaction that you receive from hearing somebody speak in another language and understanding it is extraordinary. I can only describe it to looking at a math test that you studied hard for, and finding that you know the answer to every question. What a great feeling that is. Lastly, language, especially when encountered in its native environment, opens up your world. All of the sudden, you have the ability to understand newspapers and television reports, people on the street, people with signs, people performing rituals, what or whoever. The culture starts to make so much sense. In Arabic, mostly all of the phrases, whether they be in response to a sneeze or a fresh hair cut, have the name Allah in them. Yes, you can see the mosques, hear the call to prayer, and encounter women covered from head to toe in veil, but you won't grasp how God is, in every way, apart of these peoples' lives, including the way that they speak and what they say. I find that fascinating.
The second question: It's often asked of myself and of my classmates, "But isn't learning Arabic really hard?"
I find this question intriguing. One, isn't learning any language, with all of its vocabulary, grammar, and nuances also hard? True, when learning a language that utilizes the same alphabet or characters that you use in your first language (that is, if you're first language is a written language), you have one less step. Afterwards, however, you're on an even playing ground with the rest of those who don't need to take that step. Two, does that mean that we should stop learning Arabic? The question seems to imply, "Why would you do something challenging when you could do something easier," which I find says something about the person's character. Or maybe, that person just responds in such a way because they have nothing better to say. Either way, I find it almost insulting to insinuate that I, of all people, should not be doing something that challenges me rather than bores me. That sounds a bit defensive, and I suppose it is, but after answering that questions twenty times, I've analyzed it. For future reference: Arabic is challenging (just like any other language) and yes, I'm up for it.
I hope that this blog clarifies any questions of motive that you readers might have. I'm sure there are plenty of other ones, but these two were the main ones I encountered. I would like to encourage anybody to take up a language whether they're 13 or 53. Just consider the possibilities!
No comments:
Post a Comment