On learning a new language
When I first moved to Spain, I knew very little Spanish (“hola!” and “Quiero una copa de vino blanco”). As the months have passed and I’ve taken classes, my Spanish has improved. I’m still at a beginner level but I know more than I did when I got here.
People talk a lot about how learning a different language makes you think differently, and that’s true: you can’t do word-for-word translations because that doesn’t work, at least not beyond the “Quiero una copa de vino blanco” stage. It takes too long and it’s not very accurate, anyway. You have to get into the spirit of the language.
For example, some verbs in Spanish take the “me” pronoun (which in Spanish means “me” just as it does in English) rather than the “I” pronoun (which in Spanish is “yo”).
Me gusta el chocolate.
Meaning, I like chocolate.
But the verb doesn’t agree with pronoun, it agrees with what in English would (seem to) be the direct object. If you wanted to refer to more than one chocolate, you’d have to change the verb, even though the pronoun remains the same:
Me gustan los chocolates.
A lot of times teachers try to explain that what you’re saying is “chocolate pleases me” and therefore “chocolates please me” (notice the change in the verb). I suppose that’s a fair way to wrap your head around it, but it strikes me as easier just to accept that you express yourself differently in Spanish than you do in English.
What happens, I’ve noticed, is that you start to shape the way you speak based on the vocabulary you have. I speak in complex sentences in English and I don’t have the vocabulary or grasp of grammatical structures to tackle that in Spanish. So I speak in much simpler sentences.
And this actually makes me think a little differently when I’m speaking Spanish, because instead of trying to do a word-for-word translation of the English thought, I’m just trying to communicate something based on my limited Spanish vocabulary. I’ll form a thought based on the words I do know instead of words I don’t. Occasionally I just add a Spanish ending and pronunciation to an English word and hope for the best.
Obviously I’m not the first person to figure out that learning a different language makes you think differently, so I wasn’t surprised when that happened. But what did surprise me was that learning Spanish has made me act differently.
I’m not fluent enough to get angry or impatient in Spanish; I don’t have the words. When I want to argue about something I have to decide if it’s worth the cognitive strain of trying to do it in Spanish and then I usually decide not to.
Also, I am excruciatingly well aware that I am depending on other people’s goodwill towards me to sort things out since my Spanish is a work in progress. So I am very much a calm, patient, and polite person in Spanish, which would shock a few of my friends in Los Angeles.
But I’ve noticed this is also lapping over into my English-speaking interactions; I’m becoming a calmer and more patient person in English, too!
I’m curious to learn where else this language will take me.