Linguaphilia

The thing about learning a language is that it is infinite. Never-ending. No matter how many words you learn, how many books you read, or even how many proficiency test feathers you add to your hat, there will always be a 'tomorrow' to learn just a little bit more.  What, then, can keep you going??? 

I belong to the teeming hundreds whose favorite subject in high school used to be English, and who used to harbor secret dreams of one day becoming a poet. Once during the routine "What do you want to be when you grow up?" session in class, I told my English teacher that I wanted to be a scientist, but I also wanted to study language and write books. She smiled and said that maybe I could do both! It has now been well over six years since I broke the bubble of school, and in all these years, those dreams have been but fleeting memories in one corner of my mind.  I kept throwing words like 'later!' and 'priorities!' at myself; that is, until I finished college. 

During this lock-down I have been down in the blues about so many things, but the one silver lining to this huge dark cloud has been that I rekindled my old passion for words. It is silly to think how this came to be, but I will still say uninhibitedly that it all began when I re-read Harry Potter in April. It is what I spent my childhood reading, and I'm sure Potter-heads will agree with me when I say that it wasn't just enjoyment, it was obsession! After I had finished the last book of the series (and had a good old-fashioned cry), I got to thinking about the power that these strings of words had had. They had the unique ability to bend and mend my mind, to plant so many new ideas and emotions within me! And not just me, I thought about the multitude of languages that this series had been translated into, and how it was giving people - children and adults alike - the joy and sense of wonder that I felt! It was then that I decided that I had to do more, learn more, to keep that sense of wonder alive. 

I don't know if I should call it mere coincidence, but the very next day I was forwarded a message announcing a beginners' German language class! I signed up immediately, and soon enough, joining the Zoom meeting at 7 PM became the thing I most looked forward to every day. I realized that I felt this inexplicable pleasure even in just wishing 'good morning' to my parents in German! The idea that if I were to visit Germany one day, I wouldn't have to struggle in crooked broken words or glance at a Lonely Planet guide every minute, but that I would be able to talk my way through asking for directions or start a conversation with someone on the bus, thrilled and excited me.  I knew that studying had never felt so enjoyable!

I find that there isn't much better food for the brain than to make myself 'think' in a language besides my mother tongue. Simple concepts of daily conversations, like describing our routine, or telling someone we're hungry, are dealt with so differently in different languages that learning them offers fresh new perspectives to direct our thoughts. It disciplines the brain while also pushing it towards creativity. Subtly but surely, learning a new language not only improves our observational skills as we begin noticing the nuances of semantics, but it also deepens our understanding of the languages that we've grown up learning and which have now become instinct. It can show us the many dynamic limbs of an ever-evolving culture. Living in a multilingual country like India is proof, not just of how languages are the face of our culture, but also of how they act as bridges, bringing so many people together.

 

I remember having read that a human brain has no limits, except for the ones we set ourselves. So here I am, juggling notebooks for grammar and vocabulary , keeping up with Duolingo, and giving myself worksheets and tests like a total geek! Since a little free time is a luxury I am now able to afford, I've made up my mind (after spending a fair few days researching why learning a dead language is just as useful as learning its derivatives) to teach myself Latin, or Sanskrit perhaps, to go back to the roots, try and understand the origins of the many mysteries of language. And while at the beginning it seems like a little bit of a steep climb up the mountain, I am more than sure that the view will be breath-taking!

"We should learn languages because language is the only thing worth knowing even poorly." - Kato Lomb