The Wonders of Language

How stunned I was when I heard kids my age speaking perfect English, whilst traveling through Britain with my parents. Saying “How are you”, “One bread please” and “I don’t speak English” in a thick Dutch accent were probably the only things I was capable of.

I remember meeting some kids on the campsite playground. We introduced ourselves, but we didn’t understand each other. Twenty years later I can’t imagine how we weren’t able to pronounce each other’s names. At that time, they were real tongue twisters for me. To me, what I said was just a mumble of letters, not at all resembling words, let alone having any meaning.

Fast-forward to eight years later, again in Britain. By then I had been through about seven years of English classes and I was able to have basic conversations. It was still a bit strange for me to hear four-year-olds babble in English, but at least I could understand them and converse with them, instead of being seen as the weird kid that couldn’t speak.

When I was 23 years old, I went on a one-semester exchange to the USA. I had no problem speaking with class mates, reading materials or listening to lecturers but it was clear that I needed to practice my writing; the only communication skill I hadn’t really practiced yet.

My writing improved drastically during that exchange, thanks to courses like Writing 1 and Writing for Mass Media. So when I returned to The Netherlands, a few pounds heavier, a few English skills richer and with boosted confidence in my ability to fully communicate in English, I felt like I was no longer Dutch, but that I had become an international citizen. I even started reading English novels just for fun.

By then, I was really happy to be Dutch. Even though I was initially not very thrilled to learn the English language, I can see the advantages of it now. After all; being fluent in more than one language is seen as a pretty cool skill. The wonders of language were showing themselves to me. By being born in a tiny country with high goals and a successful trading heritage I had the chance to learn a second language from a very young age. That, plus the fact that we don’t dub our movies, made sure that I had something to be proud of.

Speaking the language of cooking

At some point, I decided Englishmen, Irishmen, Australians, New Zealanders, Americans, Canadians and all the people whose only native language is English are disadvantaged growing up speaking an international language. They are never really challenged to learn a second one, knowing there is no actual need. I still stick to this belief, but on the other hand, it also really bugs me that English is not my native language – now more than ever.

See, I really thought I was doing quite well, conversing in English without a problem, reading English novels at super speed, watching movies without subtitles and writing my blogs in English.

But then I wanted to widen my horizon, to extend my career. However, when you work with words, Dutch words to be precise, ‘going global’ is not so easy. Not if you’re not fluent in English. All of a sudden, being born Dutch seemed like a disadvantage. It didn’t matter that I spoke English all the time, dreamed in English, thought in English and sometimes even remembered English words before I could think of the Dutch ones. Writing in English is different.

I wish my parents put me into an international school. I’m pretty sure the 11-year old me would have strongly disagreed, but knowing what I know now, I say that would’ve been a very good thing.

Of course I still think that being able to speak more than one language is cool. I like the multiplicity of languages and the diversity it brings and I’m definitely against encouraging only one global language. Not just because it wouldn’t work anyway, but because so much culture would be lost.

The idea of an international language (like Esperanto, created around the 1880s and invented to “foster harmony between people from different countries”) might seem like a good idea, but the world and the beauty of travel would just not be the same.

I like to keep the wonders of language intact. Even though it means my international career might never lift off the ground. Being able to speak two languages conversationally makes it worth it – right?