Bienvenido mis amigos.
It's 7:16 am, 20th June 2019, and in 9 days time I will be sat on the Eurostar train from St Pancras to AMSTERDAM, embarking upon a 3 week interailing holiday across 7 countries.
It got me thinking...
In how many of those seven countries will I be able to effectively communicate in the local language?
The answer = only one.
Out of Holland, Germany, Hungary, Austria, Switzerland, France and Spain, I only really have a grasp of the language of the latter (my GCSE French doesn't quite cut it).
How about you?
Chances are you don't speak any more of those languages than I do, if not less.
But what are the chances that the locals from those countries speak English?
Very, very high.
Over 90% of the Dutch can converse fluently in our mother tongue.
Arguably, they can do so more accurately, correctly and eloquently than we can ourselves.
How can this be?
We are obnoxiously superior, that's how.
Sickeningly so.
We presume that everyone, everywhere will speak English, and so we make a woeful effort to master other languages.
We chauvinistically expect the hard work and talent of others to compensate for our laziness.
We even xenophobically sneer at 'foreigners' who speak to us in English with a (shock horror) FOREIGN accent.
Brexit has exacerbated this jingoistic image.
(Too many big words, I do apologise).
Time for change, then.
When (in only a couple of weeks time) I am strolling down La Rambla in Barcelona or admiring the Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna, I want to be able to pay the locals the common courtesy of at least simple pleasantries.
Things like 'please'.
'Thank you'.
'Good morning'.
Mind-blowing, I know.
Admittedly, it will be difficult to learn and use a new set of vocabulary for five different languages (although I am visiting seven countries, German and French will be spoken in four of them).
So just learn the basics.
Enough to show some respect in the homeland of these languages, towards the people to which they belong.
They will appreciate the effort.
The importance of learning foreign languages cannot be emphasised enough.
The disrespect of rejecting foreign languages is a national embarrassment.
Story time...
Last Easter, on holiday in Malaga I was fortunate enough to witness an example of our infamous British holidayers first hand.
Picture a middle aged English tourist - overweight, sunburnt and a tad tipsy, to say the least.
Now put her in a typical Spanish tapas bar, mellow and laidback, with low-level murmuring and general chit-chat.
The waiter comes to take her order.
Of course, as is her right as a proud British citizen, she can be as disrespectful and insolent as possible: “Squid I said, SQUID!”
The bar staff, somehow maintaining their tempers, respond: “Vale, si, los calamares”.
As any normal, respectful tourist would, the woman proceeded to shriek at the top of her lungs: “Not that crap, I want SQUID!”
Never have I been so proud to be British.
If you never learn a foreign language, you can never truly understand a foreign culture.
It's that simple.
It is a ticket to cultural enlightenment.
Now, that's very grand and abstract.
So I'll bring it back to one key word...
Respect.
Let me explain.
If you attempt to speak the local tongue (no matter how inexpertly), you show respect.
You show a willingness to go outside your comfort zone in consideration of others.
If your intentions are good, your efforts will be appreciated.
Not to mention, there are numerous cognitive and practical benefits of learning a language:
enhanced memory
improved communication (spoken and written, in both your native tongue and the new language)
boosted confidence
superior decision-making skills
greater ability to multitask
(it also looks superb on a CV)
There simply is no excuse.
We all have free access to any number of resources - apps, websites, podcasts - as well as books to be bought cheap online.
Perhaps the sheer number of these resources is overwhelming, and we do not know where to begin.
That's understandable.
That's also easy to solve.
JUST BEGIN.
Anything is better than nothing.
Experiment.
Trial and error.
See what works for you and what doesn't.
Picture this: you can be sat at home, feet up on your sofa, sipping on a freshly-brewed cup of tea, and learning a language. I will give you some specific steps at the end as our Something Extra for the day.
You know that my biggest dream is to live and thrive in New York.
(If you don't, get out from under your rock and read this).
But another key goal of mine is to become fluent in Spanish.
More than that, it's to live - for at least a year - in a Spanish-speaking country.
I have recently taken my A-Level exam in Spanish, and will hopefully get several opportunities to put my knowledge into practice in Barcelona in a few weeks.
Knowledge alone is not power.
It is only power if you apply it.
With my six non-Spanish speaking companions, I should get plenty of chance to give it a go, even if it's only a four-day visit.
And that's what it's all about, giving it a go.
Fear of making mistakes is a HUGE limitation for people speaking foreign languages.
To do so successfully, in my opinion, is determined by this balance...
...40% knowledge, 60% mindset.
Sure, you do need to have some grasp of grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation (knowledge).
But you also need to have a free, flexible and fearless approach (mindset).
The latter is slightly more important, and undoubtedly more difficult to master.
I still struggle with it myself; getting over the potential embarrassment of making a mistake is tough, but I'm beginning to improve my mindset to be less cautious.
You can too.
Anyway, now you know another of my Big Dreams.
New York is the utopia, but living in a Hispanic country and becoming fluent has been something I've been determined to do for several years.
One day it will happen.
I'll make sure of that.
My inspiration (my 'why') is split.
Before I was born, my parents moved from London to live in Buenos Aires, Argentina for around thirteen months, working as English teachers.
To me, the prospect and possibility of a potential opportunity like this is thrilling.
My parents knew fairly good Spanish before going out there, and by the end they were very close to fluent.
I'll go one better.
I am also motivated to break the image of Westerners as obnoxious, uncultured and ignorant.
If you want to join me on my mission to achieve this, check out THIS INSTAGRAM PAGE.
(If you're a keen traveller and/or language learner, WARNING, you may become addicted).
I hope to have conveyed some of my linguistic passion onto you today, so that you at least understand the importance of learning languages culturally, politically and socially.
Maybe today, right now, will signal the start of your journey to cultural enlightenment.
Or just picking up the basics.
Showing respect.
Give it a go.
You'll be pleasantly surprised.
And on our way to learning new languages together, remember that You'll Never Walk Alone.
Until the next time...
Alex (N.Y.A.)
Something Extra
You can use the following five tips to learn another language at little to no cost:
1) Change your phone settings from English to the target language
These subtle adjustments will subliminally help.
My iPhone 'Reminders' are now 'Recordatorios'.
If you've ever received an email from me sent from my phone, it finishes 'Enviado desde mi iPhone'.
Go figure.
2) Download news apps in the target language
And then scan them when you want to look for the news.
Read for the gist of the article, not word for word.
Read articles that interest you, as you will be more motivated to do so.
3) Listen to podcasts in the target language
I've mentioned the understated usefulness of podcasts in other posts.
Aside from self-development, they can be very handy as short little bursts of a foreign language in our ears.
Research the best ones for the language you wish, and experiment as to what best suits your skill level and interests.
The 'Unlimited Spanish Podcast' is my current go-to.
4) Label household items in the target language
As I raise my head right now, above my desk I can see 'la estanteria' written in my scrawly handwriting on a label stuck on my bookshelves.
By repeatedly seeing these labels every time you open your cupboard, crash on your sofa or eat at your table, you will over time learn a range of highly useful vocab.
5) Read books in the target language
I don't mean a seven-hundred page translation of Dickens.
Keep it simple.
Read children's books or books you've read before in English (so you already know the gist of them).
It's all about immersion.
Immerse and submerge your brain in the language you want to learn.
I've given you the what.
I've given you the why.
I've given you the how.
You're welcome.
Now go act on it.