I’ve spent the last week speaking through an interpreter. Seven hours a day speaking in truncated sentences, to the point where I’m not sure if I’ll be able to carry on a full conversation again anytime soon.
Along the way I’ve actually been able to learn a thing or two in Korean. It’s been super fun and inspiring. Last night in fact, I spent the better part of four hours simply studying the Korean alphabet from an online language site.
Please note this last sentence my friends who think I’ve got this glamorous life traveling around the globe teaching yoga … I said, “I spent my evening studying the Korean alphabet!” Glamorous, huh?!
So, it makes sense that today, while heading back from my daily lunchtime rendezvous with the woman who serves up garlic spinach at the deli, I was struck by the thought that it’s really a shame we Americans are not more well versed in languages other than English. It was probably directly brought on because my deli lady had welcomed me today with, “anyang haseyo (hello in Korean) handsome.”
Sure, I’m probably guilty of flirting with her to get a little extra spinach … but I’m thinking, given that she’s never greeted me this way in the other 50 times I’ve come to her counter, that she had given some thought to this word. “Handsome” is not the most common English word yet she was definitely being sweet and I’m thinking had put some thought into this. This was someone who wanted to make a connection and knew that language did just that.
What really stuck with me though, was that all I could say to her in response was “kamsamneda (thank you).”
Seriously, that’s all I had! I have spent more than six weeks in Korea, over the course of the past year and that’s basically all I had.
I suppose I could have told her to interlace her fingers behind her back which is the one phrase I’ve learned in every country I’ve taught … for shoulder stretching purposes … but you can imagine that would probably been a little misunderstood at the deli counter.
And then I couldn’t shake the thought. Why is it we Americans are so adamant about the sovereignty of our native tongue!
I had had this thought before. Often it happens in Europe where people can often speak upwards of five or six languages. But it hit me again today when I realized that I’ve spent more time in Korea this year than at home and the lovely lady at the deli could out do me in the language department in a heartbeat.
Now, I know the arguments for why it’s easier to learn English as a second language. It’s the international language … it’s the language of the internet. Well, whatever the case … others have learned it and for the most part we haven’t reciprocated.
Yes, of course there are the exceptions … those few Americans who can spout off more than the George Bush level of Spanish. But let’s be honest … they are pretty few and far between.
So what the heck is our problem and worse … what’s really behind the English only movement??
This is a topic that I feel really needs to be exposed for the idiocy it really is. I mean, for goodness sake, “English Only” is like saying, “Limited Intelligence Only!” God forbid we develop our brain to the level that we have the capacity to read a sign in another language.
Do I understand why people shout for English only? Of course. But seriously, it’s not the language that they’re worried about. It’s something much deeper … their freedom.
Do we really think those up in arms over the language are worried about offending Chaucer or Shakespeare? I think not. I’d actually venture to say that the vast majority of people who yell for English only could not tell you the difference between a participle and preposition. The sanctity of the language is not what it’s about (and yes, I know I just ended the sentence with a proposition).
The worry is the culture. The idea is that if our language has to share the stage with another language, then so too will other things, things much more significant like employment and health care.
This is of course a valid issue to be raised. Providing for one’s family has always had to take into account the potential encroachment of others into our established level of freedom.
Now, are those fears possibly also overblown? Probably but that’s not my beef here. I mention them only to say … fight those battles honestly. If you’re worried about your job being taken … there’s plenty of ways to wage that war that are both respectable and progressive. But to simply say it’s about English just feels cheap and easy.
And … to the original point … it’s completely counterintuitive!
Have you ever heard of someone not getting a job because they spoke another language!!?? “I’m sorry sir, you fit every qualification except we can’t have someone with your mastery of communication … it will ruin our company.” Please.
Plus, every bit of scientific evidence points to the benefits of knowing another language. There was a recent study pointing out that the symptoms of Alzheimers are reduced in those who speak multiple languages.
That’s not even to mention the spiritual benefits. Yes, that right … gotta make it spiritual.
My best way to explain this was the night I was sitting at a dinner in Koppelen, Belgium with the family that was hosting me. A family of six and me. Six Belgians, one American … IN BELGIUM … and we spoke English … all of us the entire dinner.
At the end of the dinner one of the sons who had struggled the most to keep up with the all English conversation said to me, “thank you for coming to Belgium … I learned so much tonight and I love practicing English.”
What’s spiritual about that? Well, if you could have seen his face there was such a sweet appreciation for that which was different and for learning about someone else. I couldn’t help but think, if we would have relied on my language skills alone, there would have been basically zero connection between me and that family. It would have been an evening that began as a family and a foreigner and ended up the same. Rather, I ended up with a family that would probably take me in on a moments notice because we actually traversed some deep topics and genuinely got to know each other, human to human. That’s spiritual.
So, yes, I do understand that people put up walls in order to protect what they think is the space of their liberty. But can we agree that language is not a cancer and falls far short of the insidious threat that is often hung on its mantle. Can we just agree that because a few more inches of sign are taken up … or a few more moments of listening are required, our world will not come crashing down?
And that in fact, it’s quite the opposite. Whether you see it as a good thing or not … we are all connected. And an embrace of something you don’t know like another language or another culture can have magical effects on you and the people around you. Just ask the deli lady in Seoul how big I smiled when she called me handsome! Magical!
