By Audrey Pegouske
We have all been subjected to language requirements, classes for romance and Asian languages, and heard adults praise the importance of studying when you are young and malleable. This is frankly overwhelming, and some students may stray from their desires to further study abroad or even stick with a language introduced to them in high school. But what encourages people to study languages abroad? Each language is not just about hours of studying tone structures or grammatical patterns; it’s the experiences you gain once you see language as an opportunity, a way to find yourself in the syllabatic rhythm spoken by others.
This past summer I studied Korean in Seoul through a different language program unaffiliated with Kalamazoo College, under a company called EF (or Education First). I decided on their 6-week, high-intensity course to maximize my learning. Languages do not stick to you unless you can fully immerse yourself in them, taking you far outside the parameters of your comfort zone.
Upon arrival I took a level test, finding myself in high intermediate. I went to class and expected to meet kids I could comfortably joke with, share anecdotes, and maybe learn about some hidden Hongdae shops or underground clothing markets in Myeongdong. Suddenly, I did not know what I was going to do. Everyone in my class was from Japan, spoke Japanese, and could only understand as much English as one could use to get by in a basic introduction. I felt alone and isolated, as I couldn’t rely on English to get me through my daily classes in any way. This may seem like the worst possible outcome, a “why studying abroad sucks” moment that ended all enjoyment. But of course I’m coming in with the positives, even if I had to rebuild my fallen expectations from the ground-up in the process of finding them. I never felt truly alone in class, as my Japanese peers made every attempt to get to know me and interact before and after each day. We all used our Korean skills to bridge our communications. It became less about the logistics and details; we just simply spoke. Of course, there were mistakes, but the more comfortable we became working through it together, the more confident we were outside of the classroom. My language abilities deepened and rounded themselves, emerging as a deeply rooted framework that I can now use whenever I need to speak Korean again. The accuracy of my recall is tied to the memories I made and will stay with me for far longer than if I had never gotten such a chance to trust.
We need to break down our walls to build up the highest and strongest version of ourselves.
There are many articles, blogs, and magazines out there that list the exact benefits of studying abroad when you’re young, noting the lengthy highlights of professionalism and social character. Human universals of communication can be felt alongside learning to manage stress and anxiety in a new environment, one that will mimic your adult livelihood post-college.
Taken from “26 Reasons to Study Abroad” by the magazine College Life, the top benefits stem anywhere from personal growth to social-cultural awareness and career advancement. Learning a language can bolster every sector of your life and brandish your persistence at the forefront to potential employers. Amidst the external benefits, the internal is where I will always place a major focus.
If you want to maximize your brain systems and personal growth, learn a language. If you want to be able to rethink your cultural notions amongst a global landscape, experience the poetic nature of miscommunication, and watch yourself rise from the ashes of those mistakes, study abroad. Nothing is more challenging and personally fulfilling than knowing how it feels to succeed after failing (and getting right back up again to face a new day).
Any chance you can get to study abroad or immerse yourself in a language different from your own allows you to rethink cognition, speaking, and even understanding about why we say things the way we do. Even gestures and reactions differ everywhere you go, even if they hold the same undertones. Upon being puzzled, my Japanese friends would say “a-eeh?,” whereas in English we respond with “what?”. When I was in Korea, I could see first-hand where multiple language patterns converged and molded, ebbed and flowed in their stressed syllables, identifying the bits and pieces from one word that would make up another. It helped me see myself as someone who experiences and utilizes language, not just somebody that speaks it.
Think of it like this.
Language is like a blanket, one that has been wrapped around you with little holes so your eyes can look out at the world. When you learn a new one, you hold it in your hand from the moment you choose to study. With each grammatical pattern and absorption of information, you wrap yourself in its layers, embracing each new ring that it forms around you. Your roots are still the layers held closest to you, but now you have a deeper understanding of where you came from once new layers have built themselves around you.
We don’t just speak a language; we are a part of it. That part of it defines how we identify and interact with others. We convey our ideas in the language that is most comfortable and ingrained in us, but that doesn’t mean we are confined to identifying or relating to only one.
By finding myself in a predicament when going abroad, I was able to witness and play a part in the cross-cultural exchange of language, that intimate sanctuary that blossoms between agreement and understanding. Korean went from a foreign, cold abstract that blended down towards a newfound sound similar in expression to both Japanese and English, as the parallels came forth in a newfound warmth. Studying abroad and learning a language is something stressed by everyone you meet, simply because all it can do is bring growth into your life. If you can’t see yourself where you are now, you might just find the strongest version of yourself amongst the rhythms in a new set of words or breathing in the air of a different country, one that might feel a bit more like home.
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