The Gift of Being Bilingual
I still remember the very moment I realized that I was, in fact, bilingual. A few years ago, I was reading a 'Merry Christmas e-mail' that a friend had sent out to a bunch of people. I read the paragraph of well-wishes and updates, and then I read the second paragraph, which said the exact same thing. And I thought to myself, why would she write the same thing twice?
And then I noticed: paragraph 1 was written in German. Paragraph 2 was a direct translation to English. And I had read straight through and didn't even realize I had switched languages.
That was a meaningful moment, let me tell you.
At the beginning of this semester I was able to use this gift with two new students. An exchange student from Mannheim came to see me in distress after her first time in an upper-level accounting class. She was close to tears - and had actually walked out of the lecture early. I guess accounting can do that to ya. But as soon as we sat down in my office and began to talk about it in German she was able to relax. And said, 'It feels so good to talk to someone in German.'
Who knows, maybe that was mutual :)
One of the students in my class this semester is from Germany as well - here to earn his degree. When I was helping him at orientation he had about hit his max. He was overwhelmed, and somewhat annoyed, so I began to work with him in German. Before he left he said, 'I'm so glad you're here, because you can really understand me.'
So, where am I going with this?
Isn't it obvious? ;)
If only there were enough people in the world who spoke enough multiple languages, so that enough people could feel really, truly, understood - how different would this world be? Or, if nothing else, people would try to understand the 'different,' instead of walking away from 'foreign accents' all annoyed and frustrated.
I don't know how to cure this. But I am going to keep sending people abroad in the hopes that they would learn. And I am going to work with the ones that come here - in the hopes that their experiences will change the world they came from as well.
And who knows? Maybe in time there can be understanding? If enough people really want it? So perhaps that should be our prayer: that enough people would want it. Yes, I say let's do that.
To peace, love and hope.
And then I noticed: paragraph 1 was written in German. Paragraph 2 was a direct translation to English. And I had read straight through and didn't even realize I had switched languages.
That was a meaningful moment, let me tell you.
At the beginning of this semester I was able to use this gift with two new students. An exchange student from Mannheim came to see me in distress after her first time in an upper-level accounting class. She was close to tears - and had actually walked out of the lecture early. I guess accounting can do that to ya. But as soon as we sat down in my office and began to talk about it in German she was able to relax. And said, 'It feels so good to talk to someone in German.'
Who knows, maybe that was mutual :)
One of the students in my class this semester is from Germany as well - here to earn his degree. When I was helping him at orientation he had about hit his max. He was overwhelmed, and somewhat annoyed, so I began to work with him in German. Before he left he said, 'I'm so glad you're here, because you can really understand me.'
So, where am I going with this?
Isn't it obvious? ;)
If only there were enough people in the world who spoke enough multiple languages, so that enough people could feel really, truly, understood - how different would this world be? Or, if nothing else, people would try to understand the 'different,' instead of walking away from 'foreign accents' all annoyed and frustrated.
I don't know how to cure this. But I am going to keep sending people abroad in the hopes that they would learn. And I am going to work with the ones that come here - in the hopes that their experiences will change the world they came from as well.
And who knows? Maybe in time there can be understanding? If enough people really want it? So perhaps that should be our prayer: that enough people would want it. Yes, I say let's do that.
To peace, love and hope.
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