The story of the languages I speak.
My Spanish roots. My first language.
With Spanish as my native language, early on I discovered an interest in learning languages. Learning English for the first time when I was 11 years old arriving in California, my sixth grade teacher was surprised that I was in English-as-a-second-language classes for only 3 months. After this time, I was placed in honors classes entirely in English, with native English speakers. It was then that I got a hint about having a special ability to learn to speak a language within a very short time.
The language of Gaul: French.
In 9th grade, with a graduation requirement to take a foreign language class, I enrolled in French. My experience with French ended up being similar to what I had experienced learning English years before: within 3 months, I was speaking it effortlessly with a standard Parisian accent. My classmates and my teacher were surprised, and they tried to find an explanation for my exponential progress, seeking an answer as to how I had picked up the language so quickly, asking me if my family was French.
With Spanish as my native language, early on I discovered an interest in learning languages. Learning English for the first time when I was 11 years old arriving in California, my sixth grade teacher was surprised that I was in English-as-a-second-language classes for only 3 months. After this time, I was placed in honors classes entirely in English, with native English speakers. It was then that I got a hint about having a special ability to learn to speak a language within a very short time.
The language of Gaul: French.
In 9th grade, with a graduation requirement to take a foreign language class, I enrolled in French. My experience with French ended up being similar to what I had experienced learning English years before: within 3 months, I was speaking it effortlessly with a standard Parisian accent. My classmates and my teacher were surprised, and they tried to find an explanation for my exponential progress, seeking an answer as to how I had picked up the language so quickly, asking me if my family was French.
The truth was that no one in my family was French. Spanish, my first language, was the only other language I knew before I studied the language of Gaul. Why I had learned to speak French fluently within one year was still a mystery to me at the time, but I was beginning to discover this hidden, before untapped, talent I had to pick up a language quickly by simple exposure to it.
Exploring the Iberian languages: Portuguese.
Becoming aware of my special ability with languages, I interacted frequently with a Portuguese-speaking community in California, and once again, within a few months, I was speaking Portuguese fluently. With this other Iberian language, I had the opportunity to learn a language that was extremely similar to my native Spanish, so the challenge in this case was about keeping each language separate, since the grammar and vocabulary are extremely similar. Both languages are mutually intelligible in most circumstances. Nonetheless, Spanish and Portuguese are still different languages, with different nations, cultural groups and identities attached to them.
Becoming aware of my special ability with languages, I interacted frequently with a Portuguese-speaking community in California, and once again, within a few months, I was speaking Portuguese fluently. With this other Iberian language, I had the opportunity to learn a language that was extremely similar to my native Spanish, so the challenge in this case was about keeping each language separate, since the grammar and vocabulary are extremely similar. Both languages are mutually intelligible in most circumstances. Nonetheless, Spanish and Portuguese are still different languages, with different nations, cultural groups and identities attached to them.
Rounding up the Latin family: Catalan and Italian.
Once I learned Portuguese, learning the rest of the Romance languages was still a challenge, but I could easily recognize the Italic language patterns. In college, I became friends with a girl from Barcelona. She ended up becoming one of my best of friends, and eventually my roommate. Since Catalan was her native language, we spoke to each other in Catalan everyday. Within 6 months, my confidence and skill with the language skyrocketed, and by this time we could speak only in Catalan. I was also able to learn Galician, language of the north of Spain with which I had rounded up the family of Iberian Romance languages: Portuguese, the closely related Galician, and my native Spanish.
Armed with the knowledge of the Iberian languages, I set out to learn Italian. Two university classes after, and I was speaking the Roman language comfortably.
Once I learned Portuguese, learning the rest of the Romance languages was still a challenge, but I could easily recognize the Italic language patterns. In college, I became friends with a girl from Barcelona. She ended up becoming one of my best of friends, and eventually my roommate. Since Catalan was her native language, we spoke to each other in Catalan everyday. Within 6 months, my confidence and skill with the language skyrocketed, and by this time we could speak only in Catalan. I was also able to learn Galician, language of the north of Spain with which I had rounded up the family of Iberian Romance languages: Portuguese, the closely related Galician, and my native Spanish.
Armed with the knowledge of the Iberian languages, I set out to learn Italian. Two university classes after, and I was speaking the Roman language comfortably.
The mother of Romance: Latin itself.
It was then a very natural progression for me to continue with the root of all the languages I had been learning to speak. The language that 2000 years before influenced the world, leaving behind a wealth of literature and cultural heritage—the language of Rome: Latin. With the grammar being similar to my native Spanish, Latin proved to be an interesting endeavor.
One of the personal challenges I set for myself with this language was reading as much Latin literature as I could, both from the Classical Roman period 2000 years ago, and also Neo-Latin from more recent centuries. With this mind, I completed yet another language goal: I read the first two Harry Potter books entirely in Latin.
It was then a very natural progression for me to continue with the root of all the languages I had been learning to speak. The language that 2000 years before influenced the world, leaving behind a wealth of literature and cultural heritage—the language of Rome: Latin. With the grammar being similar to my native Spanish, Latin proved to be an interesting endeavor.
One of the personal challenges I set for myself with this language was reading as much Latin literature as I could, both from the Classical Roman period 2000 years ago, and also Neo-Latin from more recent centuries. With this mind, I completed yet another language goal: I read the first two Harry Potter books entirely in Latin.
Audio recording in which I speak Latin and the various Romance languages
Expanding to Eastern Europe: Romanian.
The natural progression after the Latin languages in Western Europe was to head eastwards to another land where the Roman linguistic heritage survives to this day: Romania. I spent time interacting with a community of Romanians, and in a few months I was speaking in the mystical Eastern European Latin language. My knowledge of the other Latin languages and Latin itself were what accelerated my fluency. Discovering the unique culture of Romania—a blend of Slavic and Latin—was the most interesting of this experience. The Romanians are wonderful people who taught me a lot about their country and their history. |
Speaking Romanian
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Going beyond Latin and Indo-European: American Sign Language and Hebrew.
Eventually, I knew I would venture outside of not only the Latin family of languages, but also the European family. Two languages were on the horizon: American Sign Language and Hebrew, neither of them of European origin.
American Sign Language opened up a new linguistic perspective—communicating without using the larynx or air from the lungs. Instead, I used my hands, my face, my body, and the three-dimensional space around me to convey the language's grammar and to recreate semantic nuances. Interacting with the Deaf community added to the greatness of learning a sign language—communicating with the Deaf has been the biggest reward of my linguistic journey.
Eventually, I knew I would venture outside of not only the Latin family of languages, but also the European family. Two languages were on the horizon: American Sign Language and Hebrew, neither of them of European origin.
American Sign Language opened up a new linguistic perspective—communicating without using the larynx or air from the lungs. Instead, I used my hands, my face, my body, and the three-dimensional space around me to convey the language's grammar and to recreate semantic nuances. Interacting with the Deaf community added to the greatness of learning a sign language—communicating with the Deaf has been the biggest reward of my linguistic journey.
It was then on to the Middle East to find a new challenge with the Semitic family of languages: Hebrew. It was around this time that I met one my good friends from Israel. He found it novel and surprising that someone like me, with no Israeli or Jewish background, could be interested in his language. Though the Hebrew writing system was difficult to master, I learned it as I practiced the spoken language with my Israeli friends and the Jewish communities in California. Today, I can speak, write and read Hebrew, though I haven't used it much the past few years.
Which language is serving as my newest challenge? Sanskrit, perhaps.
Which language is serving as my newest challenge? Sanskrit, perhaps.