Multiple languages: a way of life
December 13, 2006 10:40 am
Last weekend, I felt a need for some relaxing time, doing something else than math and hacking. So I decided to get around a bit in order to relax myself. I had a pretty nice time being out on the town. In spite of weather, the center of Brussels always looks very nice in winter, especially the Grand Place (central market square) which is almost always crowded with tourists from all around the world, actually one can always see a bunch of people taking pictures of the Brussels town hall building. This time was no different, Christmas ornaments and lights everywhere, live concerts… the perfect place to dine out. I really enjoyed it. I actually dined in a small restaurant, nothing fancy, but the dinner was great, probably one of the best meals I’ve eaten in a long time.
What I like most about Brussels is its people’s cosmopolitan and cultured way of life, for some reason, the city is considered the heart of Europe. Every single person speaks at least two languages in Brussels, French and Dutch (Flemish), but most of the people I’ve been with speak English and German as well. Sometimes, one, who comes from America (any country), is humiliated because of our poor skills to speak many languages. It’s really embarrassing when someone who speaks 5 languages asks you, how many languages do you speak?
I just find no response that doesn’t make me feel worthless. In most cases, I just think to myself, I should include programming languages (just kidding). Anyways, I’ll have to improve my ability to speak multiple languages, it would make me feel better. No doubt, Brussels is the world’s best place to do so.
Actually I already started learning German, but I still find it so hard to express myself clearly, my German proficiency is really bad, for the moment at least. Acquiring a foreign language is learning a skill and not a body of information since it’s not a matter of reading just grammar rules and vocabulary, one must not only understand the concepts, one must also use that information in daily activities which is complicated at first, but after a while it becomes natural. I, myself, think that learning a foreign language is always an amazing experience. I’ve always been slightly in awe of those who speak multiple languages.
