“War is what happens when language fails.”
― Margaret Atwood
I do believe learning a language is a life-changing experience. According to a Google search, roughly 6,500 languages are spoken in the world today. It’s an astonishing number! So, there are 6,500 opportunities to view the world differently and 6,500 chances to understand those who have different backgrounds.
They may have different perspectives and beliefs than yours, but it doesn’t mean you have to disagree with them. We, humans, can understand each other through words. That’s what apart us from other types of animals. Languages could be as harmful as a knife and hurt our feelings, at the same time they can connect us, giving us precious opportunities to create friendships despite nationality, gender, age, and race.
When I was a kid, I was a Japanese monolingual. I, therefore, was only able to see the world around myself though the Japanese point of view. And my monolingualism influenced how I should think and react. In particular, my reactions to political disputes with our neighboring countries, such as South Korea and China, were heavily influenced by Japanese news media. Since I was only able to read what was written in the language, which could be pro-Japan, I was only able to take our side. And I barely considered there could be other perspectives. Things, however, started to change after I decided to move my educational path to an American college.
When you learn a new language, not only will you learn vocabulary and grammatical mechanisms, but ideas and cultures behind the language. When it comes to my personal experience, through the process of learning American English, I was forced to expose myself to a huge amount of documents written in English on a daily basis. Textbooks, news articles, fiction, non-fiction and poetry. What I was learning was how Americans view the world and how they think and react to certain topics.
For instance, my perspective towards human rights was dramatically changed. The United States is the first country where women’s rights are recognized, and they won their rights to participate in politics. The United States is one of the few countries where minorities began their actions to fight against racism and inequality. In terms of minorities, I personally don’t have any issues with same-sex marriage or abortion.
So, let’s go back to the aforementioned childhood experience. As I mentioned my feelings towards our neighboring countries. But when I was in college, I had multiple chances to make Korean and Chinese friends. Nationality somewhat divides us, but individuals can understand each other despite the fact I still have some mixed feelings towards the Chinese government (but you know, we should separate politics with individuals).
Even after I grew older, I still make new friends who have plenty of different nationalities. My English significantly helped me connect with these fascinating people. Even though we have to socially distant ourselves from each other, I thankfully have plenty of chances to talk to my friends from US, Indonesia, Australia, and the UK.
Imagine. When you grow older, you can proud of yourself and tell your kids that you have friends all around the world. Isn’t it exciting? Languages have that power. So, what are you waiting for? Let’s learn languages and explore the world, finding each other!
Finally, here are some shots I photographed in Enoshima Island in mid-August.
