When I first entered a market in Turkey someone called me “Bey” (Turkish word for mister). I felt little offended because I confused it with an orientation. I was like, how can u guess how to adress someone by mere look!
I realized the real meaning later on though. I learnt languages might have some synchronization in dialect, words, idioms and more! There are 6,500 languages spoken in the world today. No one can say one of them is better than the other one. However only a few of them are known. Even the famous languages can be learned in a year! The question is, why? What can trigger the immense desire that results in the pursuit of something so challenging?
Learning a theory with boring bookish knowledge is a default system in the society. It never serves after. Comparing it to working with someone who can make you global, attribute an added advantage to your skill set. You can establish cross-cultural friends, learn from them, see life from their perspective, or even learn about your own culture from their words! You can always shock them by saying some greetings in their language when you meet, see if the first impression is the last impression theory is still valid.
Moreover, your professional life and job scope will expand dramatically. You become smart in touristic spots, you cannot be bragged by anyone nor bluffed. Above all, you do not pay the tag price of something when you shop. What a showoff you become in your friends circle when traveling in a different country together and asking for even water in their language or even just saying hi to them, you become a king. Never hesitate to learn a different combination of words than yours, a new language.
Sounds catchy!
How? Well, the stepping stone is to make your brain more open and porous, making it a stockpile of anything new. There are zillions of mobile apps though, all claiming to do overnight miracles and make you a professor! I have always doubted their functionality. A colorful screen and a stupid “ting“ sound when you chose the right word, it’s more game than learning and somehow, doesn’t work with me. Just think about pets, how we communicate with them. We constantly speak to them, use a lot of body language, and its working on them! The key is, regularly, speaking!
Find someone foreign and speak different languages! Conquer the fear of looking stupid. By that you will start to think in a different language. Then you will have perfect grammar later. The joy of learning something new is prime. The doors of a new culture, friends, music, art and many more, are just a few quests away. Realize the diversity of the world, you can do it.
So, how many languages you speak?
Muhammed Farooq Azeemi
Guest Writer
