Growing up, I was always embarrassed when my mom even attempted to speak German to me. At 10, speaking to your mom in German just wasn't cool, it always made me feel like I had the word freak plastered to my forehead. For years, she invested her time, and money in helping us learn her native language, and when she realized her 10, and six year old had no interest in investing our time into her culture, she let us do our own thing.
Of course, we were interested in learning Chinese, French, Russian and Italian, but never German. That was probably one of the most aggravating situations that my mom has ever dealt with. She probably asked herself constantly "Why not German?" She watched us go through multiple phases of devotion to many different cultures, but never once was being German important to me growing up. I always wanted to be something else. From the ages of eight to eleven, I was adamant in becoming a Russian citizen. Probably because I was interested in the Romanov royal family, and the mystery behind Princess Anastasia. My mom, even if it aggravated her to no end, bought me every book on the Russian royal family, and listened to me blabber on to no end about their life, and when I decided to come to Minnesota to learn Russian, she supported me. But, my interest with the Russian Royal family was short lived, after the mystery behind their murder was solved, in 2009. Meaning my interest shifted to a new country, and a new language.
My second cultural endeavor was Chinese. And yes, I fully committed myself to becoming a Chinese citizen and learning the language so I would become just like Hua Mulan. Obviously, at 12, I didn't really understand what it took to be a female warrior in China, but I tried anyways. So my mother signed me up for Karate, and of course, I got bored. But the language still excited me, so I kept learning. And at 13, I was selected to be apart of a gifted learners program called STAR. STAR was a language immersion program dedicated to teaching kids languages that were less likely to be taught in a traditional setting. This program was so challenging that 13-year-old me realized that Chinese was probably not for me, especially because of the tonal changes that happen in much of the sentence structure.
And finally, when I went to high-school, I learned German. I would consider it a small victory for my mom to finally have her daughter dedicate her language learning skills to a language that could actually be spoken at home. In retrospect, I could have applied myself more when my mom spoke German to me, but I never had any interest. My high school's German program was a joke. My teacher learned German in a six week long crash course for the Army, and had somehow gotten his teaching certificate. It was frustrating to say the least, but also motivated me to take every opportunity I could to immerse myself in the German language outside of the classroom. I went to the Stammtisch (conversation table) at the Germanic-American Institute every other Saturday, attempted to adopt the German exchange students, which was a very unsuccessful project, and was a camper at Waldsee, a German immersion summer camp. For the next four years I invested my life into learning German. It was exciting, challenging and pushed me out of my comfort zone. It taught me about a different culture, way of life, and gave me a new perspective, something I think my mom had always tried to demonstrate to me, I was just too much of a stubborn pre-teen to appreciate it.
There are many important benefits that should be addressed when discussing language learning, and becoming bilingual:
First, you'll be smarter! A 2004 study found that those who could speak two or more languages had higher levels of cognitive brain function, and were more adept at solving problems, planning, and other “mentally demanding tasks”. The fact that bilingual people are often forced to shift between languages, makes them better multi-taskers, with an overall stronger comprehension.
Secondly, only 17 percent of Americans can speak another language, meaning you will have better job opportunities!
Thirdly, a 2012 study conducted at the University of California, San Diego found that of the 44 elderly participants who could speak both Spanish and English, those with more developed levels of proficiency in both languages were less likely to have early onset of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. It will boost your memory, and help you retain more information easily, regardless of the language you're learning.
Lastly, you will be able to appreciate other cultures more, and be more open to experiences abroad!
Accepting your culture is an important aspect of growing up, and in my opinion learning a second language is very crucial. With all the opportunities learning a second language provides, why wouldn't you?
As my mother always says, "the world is in your hands, go conquer it."
