Lesson #4

Lesson #4: Learn A New Language

Once upon a time, I was a twenty-year-old girl, up at the very top of the dome of St. Peter's Cathedral in Rome, looking out onto all of that beautiful city. I turned to my two friends who had climbed up there with me and said, "I can't wait to tell this story to my kids and my grandkids. About the time I climbed to the top of St. Peter's Cathedral, back when I lived in Italy." We giggled, imagining how far off that seemed, but now I remember that moment so brilliantly, maybe because I'm starting to realize how very near that might actually be. I find myself constantly referring back to my time spent living abroad, and recently it has started to feel like a pretty long time ago. In fact, the first time I lived there was 11 years ago. To me, sometimes, it seems like I just got back. Other times, it seems like another lifetime ago. 

Anyway, the point of my lesson here isn't about living in the past or ruminating on nostalgia. It's about learning a new language! So, I went to Italy as a sophomore in college. I didn't know what to expect at all, but I knew I was excited about the newness of the whole experience. Some part of me was looking for something more than the boring college scene and frat parties that permeated my college life thus far. I spent a few months studying on my own, with cds and books and funny labels that I posted all over my apartment. My roommate made fun of me and I let her because it was pretty nerdy. But I couldn't help hide my anticipation. 

Upon arriving in Italy, I set out to talk to EVERYONE. I was in the beginner class because I was, by all definitions, a total beginner, (having only spent those few months before learning on my own) but I quickly progressed into the more intermediate class due to the speed of my learning. And the speed of my learning was not because I am a genius at learning the language, but because I wanted to develop relationships with the people I was meeting there and the only way to do that was to learn their language better. So, like I mentioned before, I talked to everyone. I went on "dates" with Italians just so I could practice speaking. It was fun. I met with Italians for conversation groups. I purposefully put myself in situations where no one spoke English so that I would have to make myself speak Italian and learn how to speak it better. I kept an Italian dictionary in my purse and whenever I had a moment to spare, for example, while waiting for the bus or train or whilst killing time between classes, I pulled it out and taught myself new words. 

Learning a new language wasn't just about translating what I knew in English to their language in Italian. It was learning all new ways of thinking and feeling and expression that was dictated through that new language. It was seeing life through a different lens. Anyone who learns another language will tell you the same - you can't expect to translate things literally. You have to learn what it means to be living in their culture, in their country and how to say those things through the their mother tongue. 

I am going back to Italy very soon, for the first time since a very brief visit in 2007. I'm nervous because I haven't been speaking Italian very much over the past 6 years (okay, not at all). So I'm bringing out all the resources I have. 

Someone's traveling to Italy soon!

There were many life lessons I learned, starting with that experience so long ago. I learned that learning a new language opens you up to a second soul. It makes your world that much bigger and gives you the opportunity to learn from others who have a culture and country and way of life so different from your own. Rather than closing yourself off because you feel stupid because you can't speak their language, try your best and, nine times out of ten, the person seeing you trying will also try on his behalf and that's when you break through the communication barriers.

I'm constantly trying to learn from others and I think it is great to be taught about other places, people and customs. The best way to do this is to learn their language. You get so much closer to them and are more easily accepted if you show your interest in trying to understand and assimilate to them, rather than wanting, or worse, expecting them to bend over backwards for you. It's a two-way street. Or, it should be. 

In any case, one of the greatest lesson I can pass on is this one. Go and learn that language. Any language! Start from scratch like I did. Buy a book or CD to listen to. Don't feel silly. You're doing your mind a favor as well as your soul. Then once you've practiced some, go visit the people that speak your newfound language and learn more. Enroll in a week or two of language classes during the summer. It's not difficult- people do it all the time. It's the best way to get to visit a place! 

❝If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his own language, that goes to his heart.❞

‒Nelson Mandela