Why I Want to Learn So Many Languages
Language is about connection
I’ve always been known among my family and friends as “the language guy”. I frequently have gotten requests from friends, family members, family friends, and strangers to “say something in French/Chinese/Russian/Arabic/Hindi/German/etc.” To me it was annoying, even humiliating to have my language skills and passion for learning lots of languages reduced to a party trick. I don’t learn languages to impress people.
I’ve also gotten asked numerous times (more times than I could remember) if I’ve considered working for the CIA or FBI, to which I’ve always replied “no thank you, that doesn’t interest me”. I don’t want to work in any government jobs because I find government jobs too robotic and regimented for someone like me.
I’ve also gotten asked if I wanted to be an interpreter in the United Nations or a simultaneous interpreter, to which I’ve repeatedly replied “No thank you.” Interpreting is always something I’ve hated and never felt natural in, because first of all I’d be too overwhelmed and I process speech very slowly and need a lot of time to process language, especially when I’m processing between multiple languages.
I’ve gotten asked by so many people considering the amount of languages I want to learn “Why do you want to learn so many languages? You’ll never master any if you do that.” or “Why do you want to learn so many languages? Everyone speaks/is learning English.”
First of all, I only want to master a few languages, and I’m not intending to master every language I learn. While I was in college I met a professor who knew a lot of languages and told me from his experience it’s better to master a few languages and learn many others conversationally than to try and become fluent in every single language you learn.
Secondly, not everyone speaks English, and it’s very important to consider that when talking to non-native English speakers and non-English speakers. Language learning does more than just facilitate communication, as it also connects people and it gives them each a perspective of their inner world. Languages are one of the most fascinating things about human behavior.
As Nelson Mandela said, “If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart.”
After I went to Europe twice and got to see other countries besides the United States, it really opened up a brand new world for me. I wanted to understand these people and their ways of life, which I knew while I could try to do in English, but English would always be a filter. Even if I know a foreign language poorly, I would still get much more unfiltered thoughts than even a complex conversation in English. It isn’t necessarily a communication filter, but more of a cultural filter. Yes nonverbal communication definitely says a lot, but having the words to accompany it makes things even more precise.
I learn languages primarily to understand the rest of the world besides the United States and to understand the heart and soul of a people. While language is not the entire identity of any culture or country or people, it is one of the core parts of people’s identity and is a window into their mindset and worldview.
Learning languages also got me to love learning in general. So if you want to learn only one, two, three, or four languages, go ahead. If you want to learn dozens of languages like me, feel free to do so. Any amount of languages and any depth of languages you know is always very rewarding.
As Kató Lomb once said, “A language is the only thing worth knowing poorly.”
