Languages really. Languages are great. It’s the encoding used to get things from the “mental dimension” into physical space, to another person, and back into the “mental dimension.” I have a reason for that phrase, but that’s another entry. Why Spanish? Sorry, I have a lame answer for you: I was exposed to it, and thought I was good at it.
I don’t give myself much credit, so you won’t catch me claiming to be good at Spanish, but yes I think I had an affinity for it. My parents would rarely use it around me as a child in the same way that a monolingual household might encounter two adults s-p-e-l-l-i-n-g things out so the kids won’t comprehend it. I don’t have specific memories of this, but I recall a general urge or desire to speak whatever the heck it was they were using when I was little.
This was all reinforced with cultural items around the house and stories and slideshows from my Dad about living in Paraguay and elsewhere. When you get to the point in school where you can pick a second language if you want to learn one (it’s quite too late to begin, honestly, at thirteen) I obviously picked Spanish just as someone might pick their science fair topic to be on something their engineer parent knows about.
Like piano lessons and reading Steven Hawking to Steinbeck, it was the sort of scholastic thing that I enjoyed more than I thought someone my age really should, but didn’t think of actually devoting myself to it. Never paying much attention to Spanish, I was fascinated by science throughout the majority of my school life. Then came college, and I had to pick something I was good at to actually pay attention to. I suddenly shifted to Spanish.
The more I learned the more I loved.
It was a good choice, and in retrospect, maybe the worst way to go about learning it. At least at Grand Valley State University it was near pointless. The Spanish program seemed to follow a logical skeleton (reading, writing, culture courses, etc) but lacking in coordination and a real focus on fluency of the language. If you want to learn one, don’t waste your time in academics. Yes, it has the value of learning about culture, which I loved, and the grammar is useful if you want to teach it perhaps, but… just immerse yourself, take private (or small) courses with a heavy emphasis on conversation if you want to learn a foreign language.
Oh, here’s a thought:
Learning a language :: heating some food
University :: using a microwave (focused, the design is well engineered, yet in the end, soggy food)
Living off L2 movies, music, podcasts etc. :: boiling (useful to the point that it gets hot in the end, but really wet – or: can’t use it much)
Moving to a country that uses the L2 :: oven (perfect, a little slower, might require preheating, but it’s the best overall)
Apologies if you didn’t get any of that. Sometimes I think an analogy is just great, but poorly executed.
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That’s why I STUDIED Spanish, but why do I like it, and why stick with it?
I like how it sounds.
I like how it looks.
It’s simple (yet complex); almost elegant.
I think the same can almost be said for me and piano. That’s a kind of interesting self-observation. You might be able to identify if you play an instrument. It’s something that does require practice, but is enjoyable when you reach a good level. I am very critical of learning a foreign language in a university setting, but I must say that the literature of any language you want to learn is a beautiful medium to immerse yourself in. The downside might be when it is used as a principle method for teaching you.
I love Spanish. The end.
