For the Love of Language

I’ve been in Europe for two weeks now, and I have just under two weeks until I start working. Because as much fun as it’s been, living life in Madrid without any responsibilities other than feeding myself, work is the real reason I’m here. The reason I’m able to be here. Someone’s gotta teach the Spanish children some English.

English

When I stop to think about it, I realize it really is an amazing thing. The demand for English-language exposure is so high that the Spanish government solicits 5000+ language assistants every year. As long as you hold a bachelor’s degree in any subject, it doesn’t matter whether you’ve ever taught before or whether you know any Spanish. You just need to be a native English speaker. I’ve probably mentioned it before, but Spain really does have some of the lowest English proficiency out of all the countries I’ve visited – which surprises me in some ways, but not in others. I can see why there’s such an effort being made to prepare the next generation.

The friends I’ve made so far in Madrid – other language assistants, for the most part – are filling their schedules with private lessons in addition to their days at school. Some Spanish parents are willing to pay up to €20-30 per hour just to have someone come over and play games in English with their kids. So not only is learning English a priority in school, but at home as well. I haven’t booked any private lessons yet; after my work schedule is finalized I’ll have a better idea of my availability.

Spanish

Despite the effort to improve Spain’s English, with things as they currently are, I think I’m in a good place to achieve Spanish fluency.

I started learning Spanish during my first year of high school, and it was another couple of years until I felt like I was really starting to “get” it. Looking back now, I wish there were more initiatives in public U.S. elementary schools to start teaching other languages. English may be one of the top-3-most-spoken languages in the world, but that doesn’t mean that Americans shouldn’t make real attempts to learn other languages. Speaking only English contributes to the ethnocentrism that is common among Americans, and the perception of American ethnocentrism in other countries.

But, to be honest, learning another language is hard. Any time I speak to a fluent non-native English speaker, I can’t help but feel extreme admiration, awe, and… some jealousy. Maybe because I understand the amount of hard work and discomfort required. I’m jealous that they’ve made it past that phase and moved into the part where they have total command of English; they are reading, writing, thinking, speaking, understanding English – not translating every little thing in their head.

I want that for Spanish, and I want it now. Unfortunately for me though, it doesn’t work that way. It’s going to take some time and a lot of effort. I graduated with a degree in Spanish three years ago, but I haven’t had many opportunities to practice since them. I’m a little rusty, and that’s sometimes discouraging. But everyone says immersion is the best way to learn. I’m living with native Spanish speakers, and I’m trying to make a point to watch TV in Spanish with Spanish subtitles. Since I’ll be here for at least a year, hopefully with a little patience, I’ll get where I want to be.

Italian

As many of you know, my family hosted an exchange student from Italy during the last school year. In 10 months, Gaia became part of our family, and it was terribly difficult when she left to go home in June. Lucky for me though, I’m only a 2-hour plane ride away from Sardinia, the Italian island where she lives. So my first side trip from Madrid has been to visit Gaia’s family in Sanluri, Sardinia.

Gaia started her final year of high school last week, so only her mom, Federica, was able to pick me up at the airport. I’d never met her family before, but I had no problem recognizing her mom when I arrived in Cagliari. (Thanks, Facebook!) The only thing that could have been a problem – Federica doesn’t know much English, and I don’t know any Italian. So on the car ride home, and for the next few hours until Gaia got home from school, we spoke to each other in Italian and Spanish. Though I knew the two romance languages were cousins, I was still pleasantly surprised by how much I was able to understand her, and how much she was able to understand me. We’d resort to Google Translate every once in a while.

After we picked up Gaia, she became our translator (and was much more reliable than Google). Soon after she left the room to study, her dad, Antonello, got home. He had studied English a long time ago, so then Antonello, Federica, and I spoke in a combination of Italian, Spanish, and English. It was funny, and sometimes confusing, but I thought it was one of the most interesting situations I’d ever been in. I thought about how much more difficult communication would be if I didn’t know Spanish. I thought about what it’s going to be like when my family comes to visit Sardinia next summer. My mom just started taking Italian classes in Kansas City, which I think is awesome. It’s never too late to start learning! And hopefully she’ll be able to take some pressure off Gaia as the translator.

 

When I reflect on the experiences I’ve had with languages during the past two weeks, I can’t help but be excited about what the next year is going to hold.

What has your experience been with learning a language? What language would you like to learn? Let me know in the comments!

-Cathy

 

Originally Published on September 21, 2018.