Why You Should Learn to Speak Another Language
Native English speakers are a little spoilt. Whichever side of the pond you are on or whatever hemisphere, we have an absolute abundance of media, music, literature, games, culture etc to enjoy; more than anyone could possibly consume in one lifetime. We don’t need to learn another language in a way non-English speakers do. English is after all the international language of science, medicine and money. It is the world’s most popular second language. When combined with native speakers, it is the world’s most spoken language (source).
There are many benefits to learning a second language though. The following are some of the reasons why you should learn a language and how it has benefitted and impacted my life:
It can improve career prospects
It can improve your memory
Studies have shown it can help stave off dementia and Alzheimer's disease
Being able to switch between thinking and writing in different languages can help with multitasking skills
It can improve your grammar in your native language as you start to notice mistakes in how you speak and write
It can improve your confidence
It can deepen your understanding of a different culture
You can appear more cultured
Regular readers may know that I have a very active imagination and that I tend to romanticise things a little. Very often though, things tend to disappoint me because they don’t live up to the picture I've painted in my head. Sometimes though, something is exactly how I pictured it.
Fifteen years ago, I was walking around in Rome on a Sunday morning in early March. I’d ordered a cappuccino porta via (take-away) and I was strolling through an empty piazza. The sun was out, although it was still a little cold, and I could hear only the fluttering of pigeon wings and church bells ringing. It was exactly what I’d always imagined Italy to be. I think that’s when I fell in love with il bel paese (the beautiful country) and was the genesis of a deep affinity with Italy and its culture.
Fast forward 10 years and my mum bought me a course of Italian lessons as a Christmas gift. I’d been saying I'd wanted to learn Italian for years: it marries well with my love of Italian style, food, and culture but somehow, I had never got around to it. My hand forced though, I went, and I learned. It was difficult at first. With masculine and feminine words, an absurd method for pluralising and with words completely in the wrong order, it was confusing. It is the closest language to the thousands-of-years-old Latin after all. I persevered though, I did some private lessons and I found that before long I was having sensible conversations in another language.
My first proper test came when I went to Sicily around six months after I’d started learning. I walked into the arrival hall at Falcone-Borsellino airport, confidently approached the counter for the airport bus, took a deep breath and said “Buon giorno, vorrei un biglietto per favore” (Good morning, I’d like a ticket please) and remarkably, the lady understood me and sold me a ticket. Of course, it was only downhill from there. I had no problems making myself understood, I spoke Italian well, but Italy has approximately 4,567 (a slight exaggeration) regional dialects and every one of them is spoken at warp speed.
Still, I persevered, and I had a much more enriching experience than on any holiday I’d had before. I made a friend, the charismatic and eccentric Antonio, who owns a gelato shop. I’ve visited the same place a couple of times since and he greets me like an old friend, with much excitement and a kiss on each cheek, Italian style.
Sicily: a wonderful place to visit but not the best place to practice speaking Italian
It’s not always as romantic as that though; not everyone will engage with you even though you’re clearly making an effort to speak their language. As a native English speaker, I’ve heard more than a few times that English speakers are ignorant. We go abroad and expect everyone to speak English and there is some truth to that. However, on more than a few occasions, in fact, on my second visit to Sicily it was all but a couple of times, I spoke Italian only to be answered in English. It was quite bizarre and hugely frustrating. By the end of the holiday, I’d given up and just spoke English.
On my final day though, whilst waiting at Palermo Stazione Centrale for the bus back to the airport, I helped an older gentleman pack his suitcase onto the bus and we became travel buddies. He spoke no English, so we communicated only in Italian. I am not fluent, so it wasn’t a riveting conversation, but he told me about his trip to Australia to see his children who lived there. He told me a little about his life, that he lived just outside of Milan, he told me how he liked to pick mushrooms. I told him that I lived in London, what I did for a living and about why I decided to learn Italian.
We disembarked at the airport, I carried his bag for him again, he waited with me while I smoked a cigarette, we watched each other's bags whilst we respectively visited the facilities and then we parted ways. It may not sound like much but much like my empty piazza anecdote from earlier, it’s one of my favourite travel memories. It’s also something I’d never have experienced had I not gone to the trouble to learn Italian and it reinforced why I decided to learn another language. The point is, you get to experience things you wouldn’t normally when you can’t speak the language. Isn’t the point of travelling to experience new things?
I think of him from time-to-time. I hope that he’s well. I hope he’s managed to stay safe throughout this terrible pandemic. I hope that he still picks mushrooms in his garden. I hope though, more than anything, that maybe one day, I’ll see him waiting for that airport bus. I can help him with his bag again, and we can carry on with our conversation. I can hope for that because after all, posso parlare l’italiano.
Thanks for reading,
Terry
