Why I learn: being the change I want to see
Learning a language has many benefits — including serving one’s country.
Our Why I Learn series features stories from real people about why they decided to learn a new language and how language learning has impacted their lives for the better. Are you learning a language? We’d love to hear your story! Submit it here.
By Cody Barry
I took Spanish all the way from grade school to my junior year of high school, but ironically, I kinda hated it.
Then, I did a project on Italian culture and I became infatuated with Italian everything, and so I figured, ‘Why not learn the language?’ And so I did, in my free time.
I got to college, and there was a foreign language requirement. My parents really wanted me to do Spanish, but luckily, all the Spanish classes were full. I told my parents I was going to start with Italian and then switch over to Spanish, but I never did that. I became an Italian major instead.
I ended up getting a job for a construction firm last summer. There were a lot of immigrants who either couldn’t speak any English at all, had trouble with it, or would just prefer to speak Spanish. I used Italian as a bridge. At first, I knew a handful of words, but they ended up teaching me the rest. Eventually, I could comfortably speak to them for fun or communicate what the boss had said to them.
There were a few situations where we’d be talking to homeowners and I was the only one who could relay messages back and forth. Language is probably the most useful part of that job. I think that even if I didn’t know how to do anything construction-wise, I probably could have been hired just as a translator, and it probably would’ve been just as much work and just as important.
I told my parents I was going to start with Italian and then switch over to Spanish, but I never did that. I became an Italian major instead.
Today, I’m fortunate enough to be pursuing a career in linguistics. After I get my degree next semester, I’ll be starting with the Air Force or the Army as a cryptologic linguist exercising language skills in a professional context.
I actually won’t know the language that they want me to use for the job, but that’s kind of expected. If they want me to learn Arabic and I don’t know Arabic, they’ll send me to a language institute in California where I’ll stay for 16 months or so, and then they’ll move me into a secondary language school in Texas where I’ll study for another extended amount of time. After that, they’ll send me out into a field where I’ll be taking messages that are either audio, or written down, or things that are in books or articles, and translating them into English.
I didn’t have any interest in language up until I was almost 19, and now I’m 21 and I’m proficient in Italian, Spanish, and I’m approaching proficiency with German. There’s something very dynamic about it all, and acting as that medium of communication is a powerful tool of change for me.
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