Last month, I went on a two-week long vacation to Brazil that was simply fantastic (I’ll probably be writing about aspects of that trip for a while!). And the trip served as a good “capstone” for the preceding month, during which I successfully completed the June language challenge through italki.com.
Being Satisfied with Where I’m at
While I walked away knowing that there is still a long way to go for me in Portuguese, I also decided that I had reached a comfortable enough level in the language that it was time for me to focus on something new. I felt like I needed something fresh. I needed some linguistic variety. I’d been studying Portuguese off and on for nearly four years (wow, time flies!), and I had finally reached a point where I could discuss various topics with some ease. Yep, there are still some huge gaps in my vocabulary and understanding of Portuguese grammar, and I still often have bad days in which I seriously struggle to communicate.
But as I thought about it, I never did decide to learn Portuguese in order to try to use it for work (which, as it turned out, has happened). I didn’t learn it to impress people. I didn’t even really learn it out of interest in Brazilian culture, though that has definitely grown! I learned it for two reasons:
1. I wanted to branch out and try something new
2. I wanted to be able to communicate with my Brazilian friends
So, as I reflected while on the way home from Brazil, I realized that both of those goals have been met. Usually, if I feel pressure to learn more Portuguese beyond those two motives, it’s not connected to my true passion for learning the language. So with that thought in mind, I’ve gotten to a place where I’m comfortable with moving on to try a new language. Not surprisingly, as soon as I made this realization, this question immediately popped up:
Where Do I Go Next?
… And the answer wasn’t immediately clear. For a long time, I’ve been interested in learning Arabic, but the number of spoken dialects was somewhat discouraging; it seemed like I would only be earning the ability to speak to a small subset of people who I really wouldn’t ever meet unless I sent them an invite to be language buddies on the internet.
Then I thought about Russian. I’ve had a long standing crush on the Russian language that started way back in 2008 when I went to Russia for two weeks. In fact, I actually took two weeks of Russian classes during my freshman year at University before I quit in favor of having more time for a social life. But again, I knew it would be time-intensive to learn, and wasn’t sure if I wanted to take the leap.
So I thought of the “easy” way out: French. It’s useful – spoken in a wide variety of countries around the world. It’s sexy – and I’m currently single :) I speak English, Spanish and Portuguese, all of which have commonalities with French, so it would be easier to learn than a vastly different language. But even with all of these things in mind, I was reluctant. I didn’t want to become the “romance languages” guy any more than I already am; I wanted something different.
So I thought of German. Or Japanese. Or Mandarin. Or Swahili. Or… Or… anything.
And Then, it Dawned on Me
Silly Adam, don’t think either/or; think both/and! Why do I need to choose either Russian or French? Why can’t I learn a little bit of each? Why does fluency or mastery of a language have to be the end goal? Why can’t I just try my hand at a few different languages and try to reach a point where I can have simple conversations in each?
I should have seen it earlier: If language learning is going to be something I enjoy, I have to actively decide to do it purely because I want to. I have to forcefully reject expectations that others place upon me or I place upon myself that don’t fall in line with my own passions and interests.
And this extends not only to the how of my approach to language learning, but also to the what. I don’t need to make fluency my goal if what really interests me at this stage of life is being conversational in a handful of languages instead of fluent in one or two.
From Zero to…?
So here’s the plan: I’m going to tackle several languages over this coming year in quick succession. I’m going to give each one three months of focus to see how far I can get, starting at “zero.”
There’s not much magic behind three months, besides the fact that I think it will give me enough time to learn the basics of having a conversation with someone else. I still have a full-time job, other interests and a social life to cultivate, so I won’t be able to devote multiple hours of study per day to each language. But that’s ok. I’ll push hard in the time that I have and will try to study smarter, not just harder.
I’m excited to see how far I get! I’ll announce the launch of the first language learning “sprint” next week – stick around to hear more!