Why I Love Languages – And How Language Learning Became A Meditative Task

Summary: Learning new languages allows for a deeper understanding of cultures and more transformative travel experiences. Language learning also has the power to alter our perception and add new layers to our personality. Find out how learning a new language can develop confidence in our capabilities and how we can experience language learning as a meditative task

I was 13 when I first opened a French textbook at school. French was the first foreign language that I ever learned (apart from English), and the reason why I chose a career in languages.

A lot of time has passed since then, and in the meantime, I’ve learned Spanish, Serbian and some Turkish. And, to be honest, I’m not remotely tired of language learning. Actually, the more languages I learn, the more curious I become.

Let me break down what exactly sparks this curiosity:

1) How It Affects My World View: It Allows Me To Travel Beneath The Surface

Before I spent a year in Ecuador at the age of 18, I thought travelling was all about seeing new places, trying new food and making new friends.

Travelling is fun. But speaking a language can turn travelling into a deep, transformative experience that will change how we see the world.

Let me explain:

Travelling without speaking the language often means that we can only interact with fellow travellers or people who work with foreigners. And they often share a similar, open-minded mentality to ours. Which is fine – we can still experience a country by trying new food, learning about the traditions and observing how people behave.

But living in Ecuador, I soon learned that culture is not only about the visible parts like traditions or food. Actually, the biggest part lies beneath the surface. That part is only accessible if we peel back the layers of a culture – and learning a language of a country is the most important tool to do so.

Because speaking a language gives us the chance to dig deeper, connect to people who might not be able to express themselves in a language other than their mother tongue, and truly expose ourselves to new points of view.

The longer I stayed in Ecuador, the more I could see how the way people interact with each other, solve problems and deal with emotions was different to how I had learned it. And by asking myself what makes people act differently, I also began asking myself how my own culture, values and beliefs had shaped my mindset.

I began questioning what was right or wrong. Or if there is something like right or wrong at all.

And, to be honest, I still don’t have the answers.

But here’s what changed: As travellers, we often observe behaviours and draw conclusions, without realizing that these conclusions are based on the beliefs that were imposed on us. But speaking a language allowed me get deeper into a culture, to a point where I was no longer an observer – to a point where I could experience a culture from within and see that there is more than one way of being right. And, eventually, that has given me the chance to understand the world from a less rigid point of view.

By the way: If you’re interested in Latin American Spanish, but are unsure about which accent to choose, click here.

 

2) How it affects my personality: Each language adds new layers of perception

There is a great book called “Sprache und Sein” (Speaking and Being) by Kübra Gümüşay, a German writer with Turkish migration background. The book begins with a real-life story of how she’s visiting her family in Turkey. Her aunt points to the sea and says “Look at the yakamoz!”. The author looks there, but doesn’t see anything. Only when her parents explain to her that “yakamoz” refers to the “reflection of the moon on the water”, she could see it.

Because language changes our perception. If we know a word, we perceive the thing.

Learning a language means setting aside what we know, but also adding new things, and therefore seeing them. With each new language, we develop a new sense of humour, a new sense of experiencing the world. We’re actually making space for a new side of our personality to emerge.

 

3) How It Affects My Confidence: It Teaches Me How To Trust My own Capability

I’ve always been into languages. But I didn’t always succeed.

Actually, most of my endeavours failed a couple of weeks into a project: I tried to learn Italian, and then later some Russian, Farsi, and even Chinese, to just name a few.

Now I look back and see why: I was lacking the confidence that I would ever be able to reach fluency. I thought that, in order to make progress, I had to push myself really hard. But that only let to me being overwhelmed and quitting.

But having learned Spanish to a high level of proficiency has shown me that success is not about pushing. It showed me that we reach progress with small but manageable steps over a certain period of time.

Time passes anyway. And with consistent action, progress comes naturally.

And that realization gave me a whole other level of confidence. I knew that, if I could do it with Spanish that way, I could also do it with Serbian.

So I did. And it worked.

And that, in turn gave me even more confidence, so I took some months to learn Turkish – and though I’ve not reached fluency (yet), it was enough to communicate and get my point across in Turkey.

Actually, it’s not even about reaching fluency. It’s about the trust that we build in our capability when completing a long-term project. And if we trust that things are going to work out, there’s no need to push too hard anymore.

4) How if affects my mind: It’s become a meditative task

Language learning has become a pleasurable activity. I find joy in setting some time aside each day to read a couple of passages, watch videos or learn some new words. Because seeing content in another language inspires me. It reminds me of travelling and of what the world has to offer.

Why is that important though?

Often times, we’re so consumed with our work that work-related topics are the only thing we allow into our mind. After work, we’re too tired to put our minds on other things, so the only thing that’s floating around in our thoughts are our obligations.

And that’s the problem: By prioritizing obligations, we’re giving our attention to another person’s goal, not to our own. That’s why it’s important to at least engage a little bit each day with something that’s just for ourselves.

And for me, that’s language learning. I don’t have any crazy, fancy routines. I think that having high expectations or multiple-step-and-several-hour routines can often keep us from starting. They’re creating a way to high inhibition. Instead, I’m okay with sitting down each day and study for just a couple of minutes.

But in these couple of minutes, I’m creating a space where I can shut off the outside world and focus on something that nourishes my mind. It’s a space where I can stimulate my mind by following my curiosity. In a way, it’s become a meditative task. It’s a task where I loose track of time. It allows me to stop thinking about work and allow for more positive content to enter my mind.

This might seem like a tiny thing, but it has a powerful effect in the long-run:

If we do something we love each day, we’re giving our minds new content to work with. We’re creating new thoughts that play a part in the decisions we take. In that way, small actions like engaging with a language can literally break thinking patterns and create big changes.

Opening a French book at the age of 13 might seem like such an irrelevant little thing, but for me, it was the very first step on a journey that went far beyond travelling to different countries: It was the first step on a journey that, over time, would shape my world view, personality, confidence and habits.

Read more about language learning here: