(“A different language is a different vision of life.”
– Federico Fellini
I am multilingual. Growing up here in Canada, I learned English as well as my parents’ native language of Chinese. Through my own choice, I took French as a Second Language courses throughout school, having just finished FSL 31 IB this year. All of these languages play a different role in my life and offer a broader perspective on the world. It has certainly not been an easy journey, but I’m glad I didn’t quit halfway. With learning any language, you have to go through a lot of pain, but there is also a lot to gain.
I was forced to learn Chinese. Starting at a young age, my parents put me into Chinese school so that I could retain my cultural heritage. On top of my regular Monday to Friday school schedule, I would have to go to school on every Saturday for three hours to learn Chinese. Looking back, it wasn’t too bad, but I still resented having to go against my will. As a result, Chinese school was never a priority in my mind. I did the minimum work required to get by, but still ended up with one of the highest marks. This arrangement might sound perfect for me, but in reality, it meant that I didn’t retain any of the knowledge that I was taught.
“Learning and practicing often what you have learned, isn’t it pleasant?” This is a quote from the Chinese philosopher Confucius and was the topic of one of the chapters in our textbook. It hits home because I just graduated from Chinese school. Similar to English school, there are 12 grades and also the opportunity to take summer school in order to advance a level. I finished about a week ago and I have to say that it’s bittersweet. For many years, I didn’t think learning Chinese was pleasant. I viewed it as a chore, a way in order to make my parents happy. Although they kept reminding me that it’ll be useful later on, in the moment, it’s hard to really understand that.
先若後甜
The literal translation of the phrase above is: “First bitter, after sweet” It’s a proverb that my mom taught me. It essentially means that something has to be difficult at first in order for it to become beneficial afterwards. Similar phrases in English would be reaping the fruits of your labor or no pain, no gain. I feel the same way towards my Chinese education. It was in my final year that I had an amazing teacher that not only equipped with me with practical skills but also made class fun and engaging. In all of my years attending that school, it was the first time I really enjoyed learning. I wouldn’t have been able to experience that if I had quit halfway.
To paraphrase what my teacher told us on the last day of classes: “Think of this as a game. These past 13 years are just the tutorial stages. After you graduate is when the real challenge begins.” This resonated with me because I hadn’t thought it that way before. Even though I’m finishing my Chinese education, it’s only the beginning. Paradoxical as this may sound, it’s true. Now that I’m no longer in a structured environment with a teacher to guide me, it’s in my hands whether or not I will continue to build my knowledge or have it gradually fade away.
To gain knowledge, but to not practice often, means that you’ll forget. This sentiment is relevant to anything you might be studying. I’m sure all of his have had the moment where you come back from summer break and realize that you’ve forgotten most of what you learned in the previous year. That’s natural.
However, even if you forget all the minor details, it’s important to integrate the broader themes into your life. For example, I may not remember all the small things we talked about in Chinese school, but I now have the mindset that it does require hard work to learn this language, but it’s useful and enjoyable. This is incomparably more important because it’s what will allow me to continue my journey of learning. Whereas if I remember minor details without seeing the bigger picture, it’s unlikely to be applicable.
French. As a contrast to my experience with Chinese, I made a personal choice to start learning French. Since I was genuinely passionate about learning the language, I absorbed information much quicker. I took French class (not French immersion) in junior high, but I didn’t find it to be too helpful. As with most peoples’ initial experience with French, they only learn a few basic phrases. Most notably: Est-ce que je peux aller aux toilettes? Can I go to the washroom? Coming out of junior high, that’s all I really remembered except for a few other words. So needless to say, I didn’t learn much at first, even though I was interested.
Good teachers make good students. Once I reached high school, I had more qualified teachers to teach French. As such, my interest and the pace at which I was learning French accelerated. I finally started understanding the fundamentals of how this language worked, such as conjugating verbs and how to tell if a noun is masculine or feminine. Brick-by-brick, the foundation of my French knowledge was laid and served as a strong base to dive more in-depth. By the end of it, I felt confident in my written and reading skills, it was just my speaking that was more of a struggle. Even then, I was able to improve through practice and guidance from my teachers.
“That moment when you start thinking in two languages at the same time.” Besides becoming more well-versed in French, I found that my English vocabulary was improving at the same time. As I became more cognizant of the similarities in both languages, it was like finding hidden treasure each time I discovered something new.
For example, to say that you’re hungry in French, you would say: J’ai faim. In English, there is a similar adjective called famished, which also means hungry. The word dormitory comes from the French verb dormir, meaning to sleep. Naissance means birth in French and the English equivalent is nascence. These are just a few examples, but I have found that my vocabulary has been enriched because of French.
Learning languages can be fun. You may have never been told this by a teacher, but part of the enjoyment of learning a language is being able to understand the humor. It’s a nice break from all the grammar and vocabulary worksheets. Apart from that, I always find it interesting to learn the quirks about each language. For French, one of them would definitely be the exceptions to the exceptions. You think a certain rule works for all cases? Nope. There’s exceptions to that rule. And you know those exceptions? They have exceptions too. This might be an exaggeration, but there are honestly quite a lot of exceptions when it comes to French.
For the French speakers out there, try saying these tongue twisters 5 times fast. It isn’t easy, I certainly get tongue-tied too. When I came upon these for the first time, I thought it was silly. Yet, it was because it was silly that I enjoyed it. I think it’s easy to lose sight of this when you’re learning a language. You get stressed out from trying to memorize all the confusing rules or you get swamped in homework and tests. Yes, learning a language is hard work, but I think it’s important to approach it in the right mindset.
Play games to learn French. Yes, I actually mean that. For example, I used to play a lot of QuizUp and I would play their “Beginner French” category. In fact, I played so much that I was Top 10 in Canada for that category for one of the months (more of a testament to how much time I dumped into it rather than actually being good). The point is, it was an entertaining way to study French because I was competing with other people. Find what works well for you. It may be watching shows in that language, reading books, conversing with friends, and so on. Once you find what works well for you, learning is less of a struggle.
Is English easy? Even though English is the language I’m best at, I realize that I’m just scratching the tip of the iceberg. Languages can be easy to learn, but hard to master. It goes to show how complex and rich languages are. I could dedicate my whole life to studying English and not understand all the nuances. There’s still countless pieces of classic literature that I haven’t read. My analytical skills are nowhere near perfect and my writing style can still be refined. Despite all of this, I see it as room for improvement. As with all languages, there’s always more to learn.
Learning a language gives you the key to unlocking the culture behind it. . Learning a language gives you the key to becoming immersed in the culture of that language. What are its origins? What are famous books and songs? What are popular foods? How many people in the world speak it? Yet at the same time, these are only surface-level questions.
Deep culture are the attitudes and approaches to different topics. Rather than what a certain culture does, which is surface-level, it’s how and why they do it that allows you to explore deeper.
Particularly with communication styles and rules, I’ve noticed that there some similarities and differences across cultures.
Both in French and Chinese, there are specific words that are used a sign of a respect for those older than you. For French, it’s the usage of vous, which means “you” (singular) but in a more respectful manner. For example, you wouldn’t use tu (also “you” singular) to talk to your teacher.
Likewise in Chinese, they distinguish between 你 and 您. Both mean “you” (singular). The latter is used to address someone older than you while the former is used to address someone your age or younger. You might notice that both characters are similar, with the exception of additional strokes on the bottom of the second one. Those additional strokes is the Chinese character for “heart”. This makes sense, as you’re putting in more heart and respect by using this word to address someone older than you.
In English, there’s no distinction between the word “you”. To show respect for an older person, you would have to add titles like Mr. and Ms., or to use “Sir” and “Ma’am”. Even then, I don’t find that it’s used too frequently outside of calling a teacher by Mr. and Ms. This is not to say that English speakers are any less respectful, but I find this difference interesting when compared to other cultures.
Once you know how to speak multiple languages, you can connect with so many more people that you couldn’t before. Through face-to-face conversations, through online messaging or through me writing this article for you to read in English. Just today, I was with a friend in Chinatown and we were looking to buy a tea set as a gift. I was able to use my Chinese to speak with the owner so they could help me locate it. Sure, we could’ve spoken in English and we probably still would’ve gotten what we needed, but everything is easier when you can communicate through a language you’re both fluent in.
Learning languages becomes easier and more interesting as you learn more. For example, I know French and I know that Spanish follows a lot of the same rules when it comes to conjugation and masculine/feminine nouns. Furthermore, many of the words have similar spellings and pronunciations such as pourquoi (French for “why”) and por qué (Spanish for “why”). Another example are the similarities between Chinese and Japanese. Japanese uses some of the same characters from the Chinese language. These are called kanji and these characters have the same meaning in both languages. Using these similarities, it makes learning new languages easier.
Languages are useful when travelling and in the workplace. When you’re travelling to a foreign country, it’s handy to know the native language in order to know your way around. Unfortunately, another real concern is that sometimes people there treat foreigners worse if they don’t know the language. They may overcharge for items they’re selling or they may be insulting to you, and you would never know unless you understood what they were saying. In the workplace, being able to speak multiple languages is a huge asset because you’re much more employable. You can interact with a broader number of clients that come from all different backgrounds.
In short, a different language gives you a different view of the world. Through personal experience, I can say that learning languages can be tough. However, it’s not all doom and gloom. There’s methods you can use to make learning more enjoyable and most importantly, creating the right mindset. If you can go through the pain, then the rewards are great. Knowing multiple languages is a skill that will carry you far in life. No matter where you are on your journey of learning languages, if you just keep tackling it one step at a time, you’ll reach your destination.