Dear reader,
Why learn another language?
In this post, I would like to address the Joy to connect with other people through a common language, my personal experience with learning a foreign language, and my advice on how to learn a language online, at home or on the move.
Enjoy and let me know in the comment section: Which language(s) do you speak? Which one(s) have you been wanting to learn? How long have you been waiting? Are you ready to go for it now?
I look forward to reading your response.
If you are already ready to learn another language, check out my Top Recommendation to learn a language online here.
- A Nepalese “Baby Shower”
- Fluent in Love and Joy
- Auxiliary World Language
- The Joy to Learn (with video: 70 People Try 70 Tongue-Twisters From 70 Countries)
- My Personal Experience Teaching and Learning languages
- Learning Styles
- My Personal Experience with Dutchpod101
- French, Spanish, Arabic, Russian…
- Wholehearted Recommendation
- My Secret
A Nepalese “Baby Shower”
Have you ever found yourself surrounded with people speaking a language you don’t understand?
One Sunday a few weeks ago, I unexpectedly found myself in the middle of a Nepalese “baby shower” near Leuven in Belgium. That’s the way my life goes when I follow my heart… by the time I go to bed, I have been places and met people I would have not imagined when I woke up that very same morning.
So, there I was at this beautiful party, with these beautiful people, almost all of whom I had never met before, to celebrate and bless this soon-to-be-born baby and his parents.
One lady was originally from the Nepalese community in Mauritius and now working in Brussels (also in Belgium, for those of you who are not familiar with this part of the world). She was fluent in French and English and I was able to speak with her a little. A few others could speak enough English or Dutch for us to communicate a little too (Leuven is in the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium).
At one point, I was sitting at the table with a few friendly Nepalese ladies and the lively conversation was going full speed… in Nepalese!
I have studied many languages in my life but I admit that Nepalese was not one of them. It is totally foreign to me! And yet, there I was, bathing in the vibrations of their lively and joyful conversation…
Fluent in Love and Joy
I do not speak nor understand a word of Nepalese but I am fluent in Love and Joy. And that’s what I could feel! I was smiling and laughing with them, utterly at bliss.
And at the same time, if I really wanted to deepen my relationships with any of these ladies, we needed at least one language in common.
Auxiliary World Language
The idea of a common auxiliary world language is not a new one. A language that everyone would learn in addition to their own native language.
Some of you may have heard of Esperanto, the language created at the end of the 19th century by Dr. Zamenhof, a Polish-Jewish ophthalmologist, in the hope that it would foster peace and international understanding. You can learn more about Esperanto here.
A few years before that, Bahá’u’lláh, the founder of the Baha’i Faith, had made the use of an auxiliary world language one of the central points of his teachings. He stated that a “world language will either be invented or chosen from among existing languages” and his son later explained: “A mutual language will become the mightiest means toward universal progress, for it will cement the east and the west. It will make the world one home and become the divine impulse for human advancement. It will upraise the standard of oneness of the world of humanity and make the earth a universal commonwealth. It will create love between the children of men and good fellowship between the various creeds.”
Unsurprisingly, there was an affinity between Esperantists and Bahá’ís during the late 19th century and early 20th century.
Fastforward to nowadays… At the moment, a few languages lend themselves to playing the role of being that auxiliary world language, but it still depends on where you are in the world: English, Spanish, Russian, Arabic, Chinese… we are still “waiting” for one common auxiliary language to help all of us communicate, regardless of our linguistic background.
The Joy to Learn
Of course, a common auxiliary world language would be great. And we sometimes HAVE to learn a language for school or for our job… for the grades or the money… but how about learning a foreign language “just” for the fun of it? Or “just” to show respect and appreciation towards the people who live in the next country we are going to visit?
My Personal Experience Teaching and Learning Languages
I spent more than 15 years as a language teacher in diverse settings around the world and even more years learning foreign languages myself.
I started teaching French as a foreign language when I was 15 in my hometown in France, Vichy. There is a world renowned language school there, with students from all around the world.
One thing leading to another, I ended up giving extra conversation lessons to some Japanese and Korean students attending that school, after their official classes. I loved it and became friends with all of my students. I wish FB had been around at that time so I could have stayed in touch with all of them.
Since these beginnings, I have taught French as a foreign language in several countries, to children as young as 3 and adults as old as… well… I’m not sure… I think my oldest student was in his early 50’s. But that’s a detail.
At the same time, I also have a lot of experience learning foreign languages myself, mainly for the fun of it… 🙂 Yes, I know! This may sound weird to you, but I am the kind of person who would just start learning a new language when I was feeling bored (I am saying “was” because ever since I have been married and with a child, I don’t remember feeling bored! Hahaha! Raise your hand if you can relate to that! 😉 )…
Learning a foreign language is like a game to me… it’s about learning certain rules and applying them to “score” “connection points” with people and “satisfaction points” with myself… Some people have that with sports or musical instruments…
It does not mean that I learned all of them to the point where I could actually use them in a conversation, though. Sometimes, it was just about the exploration feeling… learning a few words, some grammar notions, a different alphabet…
Learning Styles
There’s probably as many ways to learn a foreign language as there are people. Everyone is different. And at the same time, most people would agree that there are 4 main aspects of learning a language: listening skills, speaking skills, reading skills and writing skills. And there’s the cultural part too, of course.
I, for one, enjoy learning in a free style and at the same time, I know I need some structure to follow my progress: knowing where I am, where I am going and how I’m going to get there is essential to me.
My Personal Experience with Dutchpod101
About a year ago, I was accepted on a course to train as a professional electrician here in Belgium. The catch? The whole training was in Dutch, with native speakers.
I had been living in Belgium for 13 years already, 9 of which in the Dutch-speaking part of the country, but I had always been able to get by with French, English and some broken Dutch. With the challenge of my electricity course, I HAD to take my Dutch to another level, fast!
So I did some research and signed up for the Dutchpod101 program. What I LOVED about this program was the fact that it was addressing all the learning styles you can possibly address in an online course. They even give you access to a real person when you upgrade your membership!
I downloaded their lessons as mp3’s and played them in my car while driving. That was a huge help to me because I was spending so much time in my car at that time.
I also used their amazing learning platform on my home computer, on my phone (they have a great App) and I absolutely loved their online tracking system to track my progress.
And yes! I was successful in my electricity training and am now a certified electrician and domotica specialist. 🙂
French, Spanish, Arabic, Russian…
The beauty is that the company behind Dutchpod101 also offers courses to learn other languages! Yes!
Innovative Language offers 34 languages (!!) so chances are, they offer the language YOU want to learn! 🙂 Look at the full list here in my review, and check for yourself.
Wholehearted Recommendation
Although I have not tried the other languages myself, I experienced so much quality and value for my money while using the DutchPod101 program that I can only imagine that the other Innovative Language programs are fantastic too.
Give it a try and tell me in the comment area below: Which language(s) do you speak? Which one(s) have you been wanting to learn? How long have you been waiting? Are you ready to go for it now?
I look forward to reading your response.
If you are already ready to learn another language, check out my Top Recommendation to learn a language online here.
To our Joy and Happiness,
Nathalie
My secret…
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Great post and good info.
Honestly, I love to learn new languages, to speak with more foreign people, new friendships, and in the end, a better knowledge of life.
Now, a lot of people are scared to do it, because it can be hard, but life isn’t easy, but you need to go for it, isn’t it?
Your post is inspiring, so hopefully a lot of people can get that courage that is necessary to learn it.
Thanks a lot for sharing.
Thank you from this content filled post, learning a new language is good and essential in my own opinion, we all love to travel to new places, meet new people and connect with them,this can only be possible if we share a common language .i speak English but I have always tried to learn German. Can you provide me with tips concerning that?
Hi Nathalie,
What a pleasure reading your article!
I have always been fascinated and loved learning different languages. My parents spoke many different South African languages and it was so sweet as a child hearing them jump from one language to the next. Unfortunately for me, it wasn’t easy picking on all but when I started school I taught myself to read Afrikaans and Zulu. My native language is Sesotho. When my parents died, I sort of let go…
As an adult I had an opportunity to stay in Malawi, I learned a little Chichewa, In Uganda, I am learning Luganda, Kiswahili, Spanish, French, and Italian. (French it really hard for me!).
But I will try until I get it right!
I love music in all languages as long as it is good music, regardless of whether I understand or not. So basically, I agree with you, you can feel and spread the love and joy even if you don’t share the language.
Cheers!
I feel this post was made for me LOL.
Oh yes, I’ve definitely heard many languages that I don’t understand. Let me tell you more about me. I am originally from Ukraine at the age of 17 I moved to the Czech Republic where I studied, and 3 years ago I moved to Switzerland. So I speak Ukrainian and Russian, perfectly Czech, a bit of English and French. My husband is Indian and his mother tongue is Malayalam, he speaks as well Thamil, Hindi and English. My 6 years old daughter perfectly speak 3 languages (French, Czech and English) in some years in school they will have compulsory German language as well. While living in a Europe I must say that speaking minimum two languages is a must – your mother tongue plus English or German.
On the other side I feel I am not perfect in none of these languages, maybe my Czech is strongest as I’ve studied in the Czech Republic and used to read a lot of books. English I’ve learned somehow myself, a bit in school and from my editor/rewriter who helps me with my blogs.
If I can choose now the language I want to learn it will be definitely English! What is your suggestion for me? Do you think it is possible to learn English online and be finally perfect in it?
Thank you for a great post!
I think being able to speak more than one language is a skill that everyone should pick up. Why you should learn another language from my own experience is that it helps you communicate with others faster and more effectively, and even if you know only 200-300 words, it can help immensely.
As a young lad, I grew up with Minnesota English. That is a slang version of the language from the mid-west of Horth America, and since I was on the border of Canada, and spent considerable time in Ontario, I also had a bit of the Canadian accent, eh?
At the ripe old age of 17, I joined the military and was sent to Germany. There I learned to speak very fluently and even was able to test out in college-level courses at the time when I was in a 4-year program. It helped me in so many ways get by in Europe.
I added smatterings of French, Italian, and Spanish to the German, and found that my time was so much more enriching over the subsequent years spent there. In fact, over the next 25 years, I became so much enamored with the place that I built a house and stayed there when I retired.
Later in my career, I had to use the language skills in the Balkans as I was assigned to Hungary, Croatia, and Bosnia-Herzegovina. There I just learned 200-300 words in each place, and again it was a wonderful experience because I was able to communicate with the locals.
So I guess what I am trying to say is that I so totally agree with you that speaking more languages will definitely change your life for the better. The methods to learn the languages differ, of course. I did a combination of class-work and just learning on my own.
Later, I used a tool called Rosetta Stone that helped me. It sounds very similar to the tool you mention. DutchPod101. A person learns via various mediums…I mean they take in images, gestures, familiar objects they can relate to (and learn the foreign word for quickly), etc.
No matter if the reader uses the tool that you mention or another one, it is definitely worth the investment in themselves. Their life will be far richer for taking the effort! Thanks for a great post!
Hello Dave,
Thank you so much for taking the time to share your experience with me here.
Wow!! I am impressed by your extensive multi-cultural and multi-lingual life!
Yes, I know of the Rosetta Stone. I have used it myself too many years ago to start learning a few exotic languages, before I knew of the pod101 programs. It does offer some interesting features.
I love the idea of learning 200-300 words when going somewhere new. These numbers make it sound very feasible! 🙂
So, where do you live now? In Germany? Did I understand this correctly?
All the best,
Nathalie
Thankyou Nathalie for a most interesting article. Whilst I cannot really speak another language other than english, I understand a lot of Spanish. I live in Spain but in an area where english is easily spoken and what english they dont know i get by with my smattering of spanish. The problem is that being in a area that speaks both, I dont get immersed in spanish. My son who is here with me has spanish lessons and has since we arrive 5 years ago. He is fluent and it has opened up new experiences for him but at the time we could not afford for me to have lessons too and I had too much else to do, so never got around to it. To be honest, Im not that interested. I have so many other things that take my time and I thoroughly enjoy them, but I do love listening to my son chattering away in spanish. I feel your joy from language but I do feel that it is something you have to love to be able to achieve it as an adult. School put me off languages, I think if I had enjoyed it more at school I would have been more successful.
Hello Helen,
I can completely understand that school put you off languages. It’s great that you have so many other things to do that you enjoy! That’s the key!
And yes, I know what you mean! Being in an area that speaks both English and Spanish, you don’t get immersed in Spanish.
It’s great that your son is fluent! Does he go to a Spanish school now?
All the best,
Nathalie
I simply love learning new languages, is the best way to get deep and learn about other cultures and people.
I have learnt Spanish by just talking to native people and traveling, and it helped me sooooo much in life (in personal, business, and every field imaginable and more).
Now I am trying to learn Bulgarian (coz I am living in Sofia, BG). I will check the list linked, hope it can help me!
By the way, loved the post and blog! Cheers,
Hey Luiz,
Thanks a lot for taking the time to leave your comment here! 🙂
Thanks also for your kind words of appreciation!
It’s great to hear that you too love learning new languages! Great that you’ve already learnt Spanish. Congratulations!
Well, you’re in luck regarding Bulgarian! I have the perfect program for you to take you to the level you want. Check it out here.
Have a beautiful Sunday!
Nathalie
This is really interesting. I have been wanting to learn different languages but the problem is who is going to teach me, I have made researches on how to learn foreign languages but the results I’m getting, I don’t understand it. Thanks for sharing your experience with us, this has really help, Reading this post I now know the next step to take.
Hello Lok,
Thank you for taking the time to leave your comment here.
Great to hear that you have been wanting to learn different languages.
I suggest you read about the program I recommend here. Try it out and let me know which language you decided to learn first, ok?
Have a beautiful Sunday,
Nathalie