That is why sending a kid under 12 to a language school and creating this sort of an artificial language enviroment might help a lot.
In Hungary these days everyone understands the importance of learning English. Julia assumes her 15 year-old brother knows more English than her 25-year-old one. Following the reevaluation of language programs in Hungary around 10 years ago in bigger cities Italian and French as well as Japanese are offered. Due to the growing economic connections, Russian is also becoming more popular.
Julia never experienced changes in her personality while switching between languages. It would be «schizophrenic» to her. In that regard she recounted a funny story about her university teacher that everyone thought was gay based on how high-pitched his voice was in Hungarian. But once he taught his first class in their group which he started in English, this impression totally changed as his voice sounded so low.
Again, Julia does not feel like a different person in the languages other than her native Hungarian, but what she does find is that she is capable of expressing her feelings better in English, which she acknowledges is a «weird» feeling. Besides, she is more aware of a variety of subtly different meanings English synonyms are used for.
For everyone having to master a foreign language after the critical period she recommends that they should not be afraid of speaking – regardless of how bad they think their pronunciation is. At the end of the day, it is not about perfection, but getting your message through, which due to the universal grammar, non-natives are capable of doing even in communication with natives, which most learners find particularly intimidating.
∞ Julia and I were definitely very appropriately and happily matched back in Miami. Of course, the way she looks at languages is more theoretical than the one I have to adopt in my language classroom. But the field of linguistics is so broad and we all have to work together towards the common goal of understanding and mastering human languages better.
Even though Hungary was part of the USSR and some older Hungarians speak Russian, our languages are not mutually intelligible at all. We just wanted to get a feel of that as we both listened to each other’s conversations with our Mums in Hungarian and Russian respectively. No wonder that neither of us was able to anything except the word «New York»! As we discussed later, we did seem like different people to each other as we switched to our native languages. There must be something that contributes to that such as e.g., the tone of the voice as Julia mentions in her talk.
I will remember the raw emotions of those intimate conversations we had back at my place over some American beer (there was no Hungarian wine in the neighboring liquor stores). We indeed both felt at home talking in English about the issues we’d been having with our research as well as with things well beyond academia. Meticulous language learning involving detailed examination of how different nuances of emotion are expressed must have come in handy for both of us…
Sophistication, intelligence, and style
(Dania, Jordan)
Languages spoken: Arabic, English, French, Spanish, learning Chinese.
Field of study/career: Landscape Architecture, UMass Amhurst, a Fulbrighter.
I also met Dania in Miami during the Gateway Orientation. She arrived in the U.S. to do her Masters in Landscape Architecture. I have also been working as a translator for a scientific journal in Architecture for a few years so there was some (albeit small) connection between our jobs. She and Julia (my previous interviewee) ended up at the same university and became particularly close. A few weeks after Julia had visited, Dania came to visit as well. It felt great to go back to my project after the winter break when I got to go to the West Coast and contemplate all the information I had gotten so far. Dania was such a delicate and sensitive speaker as well as a listener during this couple of days we spent together reuniting with a few more Fulbrighters from the Miami group in NYC. She literally kept me on my «linguistic toes» as I was looking for more refined and subtle ways of expressing myself as we, just like we did with Julia, poured our hearts out to each other over long emotional conversations.
Dania started learning English as a second language at primary school – 2nd language. It was a modern American school and English «was just there». It was a very strict and rigorous program. It was always natural for Dania to use English being born around people from different countries. She never liked Grammar and just wanted to understand the language without spending too much time learning how different structures came about. Dania believes that every learner’s struggle is «personal» as we balance between a first language and a new one in our own unique way.
Dania’s classes back in Jordan offered an equal concentration on Literature, History, etc. People of Jordan are grateful to King Hussein who implemented this demand to have English as a 2nd language
for everyone, which Dania is sure helps «keep up with the progress of the world».
English was always the second language which she and her siblings even practised at home with each other every once in a while. English definitely opened so many doors and taught Dania to express herself more eloquently in essay writings as well as allowed her access to books in English which are «omnipresent» these days. Before starting speaking extensively, Dania would spend awhile listening and accumulating knowledge and practising at home before feeling confident enough to speak at school. As for the accent she imitated, there was a mix of girls with a British, Scottish or American accents. Dania personally preferred the latter and it just «stuck».
Apart from English, Dania can speak French and Spanish. There are wide opportunities to practise the latter here in the U.S., but not so many for French – at least in her university community. Having a lot of Chinese people at UMass Amhurst inspired Dania to take up Chinese, which she has been enjoying so far.
Dania admits she feels sorry for people who can only speak English as a foreign language. Learning five or six languages (rather than twenty) is going to enrich one’s life immensely. For example, knowing Arabic opens doors for Hebrew, which also facilitates learning Turkish, etc.
Dania feels different in any language she speaks and that even affects the way she dresses. When she is in a romantic mood, she unconsciously dresses in the way that makes people go, «You look so French today!».
Her experience here in the U.S., which has been her longest stay abroad so far, has been rewarding in many different ways. She feels absolutely positive about learning a new language here at the age of 27. She encourages everyone to learn languages at any age as once you realize how many gigabytes of information our brain is capable of storing, there is no stopping you. Besides, it is widely known that learning a new language prevents the risk of developing Alzheimer’s at an older age.
∞ I felt somewhat ashamed of myself for having fewer languages in my linguistic repertoire than Dania who wasn’t even a linguist. But she inspired me to carry on with my humble efforts with other languages that I had been making in the U.S. She is a stellar example of how someone can seamlessly incorporate languages into their live just as landscape architects know exactly how to arrange space and make it work to create that «wow» effect.
After completing her studies Dania went on to get a job in Europe where I am sue she is working on expanding her language repertoire.
Navigating the multilingual New Jersey
(Alejandra, Colombia)
Languages spoken: Spanish, English, some Hebrew.
Field of study/career: Foreign Language Teaching.
I met Alejandra from Colombia in Union City,