A few weeks ago, I was watching the show The Amazing Race on a calm Sunday evening. I used to watch this show all the time growing up but life and work got busy and I soon left it behind. Of course I've also been going on my own Amazing Races minus all the rush, no sleep,.....and the unlimited supply of money! :-)
If you have never seen The Amazing Race or don't know what I'm writing about, it is basically a world race with teams of two who are competing to win prizes at the end of each competition. Along the way, it is also about travel and seeing countries you haven't been to. Although it is too rushed that they really don't see much. (I know a cameraman who works on the show and he told me everything that actually happens). Each week, a team is dropped from the race if they are the last to make it to the finish line. The team who makes it to the finish line first in the finale takes home the big prize of cash!
But watching this episode opened my eyes and realized it didn't really make me happy. I was watching the episode where the teams were in Chile. I watched as they scrambled around and yelling things at the Chilean people in English to help them out so they could win their competitions. Rushing around and causing chaos in this beautiful country (and all the other countries they run through during each episode/season as well).
But you are in a Spanish speaking country? A lot of the people on camera did not understand what the teams were telling them. And in my experience, when I was in Chile, I wasn't really understood so I used my Spanish there, not English. Actually in all Latin American countries, I put my English aside and only use my Spanish to get by.
It just made me realize how important it is to me to learn the language of the country I'm traveling to. Or at least learn the important words to get by and show appreciation for the country I'm visiting. I've seen people give up when communicating with a local and I've seen people not even try and it makes me sad. How can you travel when you don't even appreciate their language? How it ties to their culture, people, food, and lifestyle?
As of now, I am in my advanced stages of Spanish. I took 2 years in high school and 2 years in college. And now I'm using the Spanish channels and radio stations so I don't forget! For years I wanted to learn Mandarin Chinese and now I am currently learning the language and feel like I'm picking it up pretty well! I understand some Arabic, and a little Portuguese, Korean, and Japanese. Even a few words in sign language. I've picked up some Italian words without having to use a translator!
I've mainly been to the Latin American countries and when I'm there, you will see and hear me use my Spanish. I never second guess what I'm going to do or say. I'm in their country, I will speak their language or try my hardest to. They deserve all the respect and I will not take advantage of that. Even in Egypt, I tried my best to understand Arabic. Especially because I wasn't in the tourist center and completely merged in with the locals. In my opinion, this has made all my travels amazing. By being one with the people and not just a tourist, visitor, or English teacher.
An Argentinean shared his Yerba mate with me - Mendoza, Argentina
I feel like I cannot understand the country itself if I do not understand the language and the meaning of their words, gestures, and customs. If I ever end up living and teaching English in Korea, China, or wherever I choose, I will completely dive into their lifestyle, culture, and language. Isn't this the whole meaning of travel? To understand someone else and find something new?
What languages do you know? What's your opinion on learning languages and traveling?
lovely article and great insight - i feel the same way although my Spanish has been slacking lately, it's how you can tell a tourist and traveler - travelers want to learn all they can and embed themselves into a new culture. tourists don't care and just want to snap a photo. Good luck with Mandarin! If you ever need any help you can practice with me :)
ReplyDeleteThank you! :) You know Mandarin?? That's amazing! I'll have to keep you in mind. I work at a high school as a Cross Country coach and it's required that the students learn Mandarin so it's amazing to hear my runners speaking the language. Actually it was pretty cool to find out my Chinese professor is their Chinese teacher so they always give me tips on how she teaches and such! It's just interesting that my perspective of The Amazing Race completely changed after my travels! It makes you appreciate more when you can go deep into a culture. The surface and the snap of the camera doesn't help me remember anything I've seen. It's always been programmed in me to be open-minded and to always try so I could never just take pictures of anything without figuring out what it is!
DeleteYup! I am Taiwanese so I grew up speaking Mandarin. I admire you trying to learn it at this age though, I still have trouble reading/writing since I haven't done it since high school! Since you are much better at Spanish, you can speak to me in Spanish and I can reply back in Mandarin! lol. That is really cool to hear that people are learning it though - it's not easy!
DeleteI hear ya, it's one of the things I think we take for granted living in the States but one of the greatest benefits of traveling. Our eyes don't open until we see the rest of the world and realize that so much more is out there!
Ohh I was trying to figure out where you were from! What state are you from? I love the deal! I speak in Spanish and you in Mandarin! The characters are a little hard to memorize and I'm slowly getting it. The pin ying is easier to remember and I can speak pretty well! Don't forget your reading and writing skills!!! I'm noticing now I need to keep my Spanish up because the Mandarin is slowly taking over! Trying to keep it balanced. I wish more schools were like the h.s. I work at. These students are so open-minded about life, culture, and travel. It's definitely not easy to learn at this age but as long as I don't get too distracted, I've been fine! 2x a week isn't enough though. Wish it was 3 or 4x a week. Do you plan on living in Costa Rica indefinitely or planning on going anywhere else?
DeleteI grew up in WA state. I went to chinese school growing up and I just speak Mandarin in my house. I was lazy when it came to memorizing characters because between regular English school homework AND chinese school homework, English took over since obviously I went there more hours. But all the characters are simplified now which ironically, I can't read! I learned traditional. Unfortunately there are no Mandarin speaking people in the town I live in so I only speak it when I call home :( We're planning on staying here for another year or so and then go live in Taiwan! You'll need to come back to CR before then hehe :)
ReplyDeleteI have always wanted to go up to Washington and Oregon! One day....I can definitely understand that it is hard to focus on both Mandarin and regular school work. I noticed that while learning Mandarin. My class just ended on Thursday. :( It's up to me to keep it up now! I compare a lot of the simplified characters with the traditional ones and a lot of them don't really resemble each other similarily which I can see that it'll make things harder to learn! I wonder what characters are used in China. Do you think they'll keep everything traditional or make new signs with simplified characters? Ahhhh I will try to head to CR!! If not, I have to go out east so if not Costa Rica, for sure Taiwan!! :)
Delete