Are languages important?

Are languages important?
Sunday February 27, 2011
By: Gina Roman


It’s the second to last day of the second month of the year. Where did the seconds, hours, days, weeks go? Time sure flies when one is having fun, doesn’t it?
With the month coming to an end I’ve been pondering on the fact of how important languages can be as they open new horizons, a whole new world, each language is very unique and it holds its own beauty and an amazing history behind it. I’ve always been a fond admirer of those who speak more than three languages because I can barely handle two: Spanish (my native language) and English my adoptive language which has slowly become my first language given the fact that all of my work has to be done in English; Teaching, translating, writing, doing business etc. many people I talk to such as friends, co-workers, clients, students, don’t believe that English is not my mother tongue, they say I sound so “American” and it makes me laugh and think to myself, “How can they not hear my Latino accent?” but at the same time nobody can really define another person’s accent and nationality since the world is a melting pot. There are so many interesting mixes; this reminds me of a pot of chilaquiles. The small chunks of tortilla are put in the pot, the sauce is poured, they are stirred and mixed, the tortillas blend with each other and you get an exquisite mix.
As far as Spanish, I am not proud to say this but my language skills are too basic, I don’t sound as professional as I should. And my grammar is not any better. A few months ago I started teaching a Spanish class but my student cancelled, there was never a complaint, a bad comment, feedback, nothing, he just stopped coming to class. I am 95% sure that he didn’t like my class. Also when it comes to dealing with Mexican customers, I’ve noticed that my Spanish doesn’t sound as professional and business like as theirs. That is one of my goals, to improve that area and get certified to teach because it will not only help me but I can help others as well.
With a language comes grammar and writing to complement it, without these two, a language is not complete. Many people don’t look at the whole picture when they are learning a language. They think that learning a language is only a matter of having a conversation. When I start a new class many people tell me, “I only want to learn the language so let’s focus on speaking and forget about the grammar and writing.” So it is very important to emphasize that not only is it important to learn a language but it is also important to learn about the language which is the grammar and everything that comes with it.
Many times I am left wondering about many things in life, I’m curious to know if people question themselves as much as I do, if they reflect about a million things, if their mind is flying at a million miles per hour. That’s one of the reasons why I’ve never been able to sit down and have a moment’s rest, I’ve never been able to meditate or do yoga, that’s why I always bombard myself with many things to avoid myself from wondering about things that I cannot find an answer or a solution to.
As of lately I’ve been digging for the answers to these questions related to languages;
What would the world be like and how would it operate if writing didn’t exist? How are languages and globalization connected? Can languages be the root cause of international problems? Why? Why is it important to know, spread and protect our mother tongue?
As a language expert, writer, translator and editor, many times I don’t even enjoy the simple fact of reading a book because I don’t even concentrate on the story itself; I unconsciously start looking for mistakes and my highlighter always comes in handy.
There have been funny times when my panicked students tell me in class, “I sent out an email to the VP, the CEO and all the top people at the company and I said, hi “gays,” instead of hi “guys.” Or someone once said “Hi, I hope you’re having a good “mourning.” Or, “let’s go to the “bitch.” And endless hysterical incidents that I never would’ve imagined it would happen to me since I am a “language expert,” until about two weeks ago when I was in the middle of working on a translation project and the client decided that he wanted the translation sooner than what we had originally agreed. Here I was stuck to my computer working very late nights which is extremely difficult for me because I am so not a late night person. So needless to say I meant to tell the man, “Bear with me,” but instead I said, “Bare with me.” I wanted to beat my head against the wall; it was not acceptable to make such stupid mistake like that because I am always very careful with my words especially by email. I was mortified because my butt was on the line but I let it slip right through and I only made the matter worse.