I'm going to learn Russian. I was passionate about languages, but over time I somehow became less passionate about life in general, and the things I loved became second to school. I remember being so dedicated to French and Spanish. I tried teaching myself French when I was younger, and I recently found a notebook with all my careful entries, and I couldn't believe I was once capable of being so thoroughly in love. I read everything I could, studied every night, and listened to French songs, comparing the lyrics to translations. I know it didn't just stop one day, but it feels like it did. As for Spanish, I grew sick of the busy work that is characteristic of the Stevenson World Languages department. I understand that any exposure to the language is part of the immersive learning experience, but the way these assignments are tossed aside, the meaninglessness of the crosswords and other insipid activities, have made me quite jaded. I took another language, Mandarin, at school, and with my combined experience, I can attest that the language department needs to be seriously reevaluated. Most of the things we do waste time on preparation rather than learning. Need I remind everyone of the glitchy language labs? I mean, we had to retake the freaking AP because the system failed so badly.
Point is, I'm going to do what I want to do, and I want to learn more languages. I know a few spare words in Russian because my entire neighborhood is Russian, but I'm light years away from being even remotely conversational. My knowledge of Russian is like the average English speaker's knowledge of foreign phrases that have been incorporated into the language like "je ne sais quoi", "joie de vivre", "jolie laide", and "taco".
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