Learning a Foreign Language Is A Superpower

Learning a foreign language is a little like having a superpower - one that lets you order coffee halfway across the world without looking at the menu, ask for directions without using a translating app, or feel a little less lonely when you are able to start a conversation with a stranger.?

I have spent the last 54 days in Brazil traveling from Florianopolis to Curitiba, to S?o Paulo, to Rio de Janiero, to Brasilia, to Salvador, to Fortaleza, and finally Manaus all while knowing a solid two phrases in Portuguese. What I have to say about this experience is - thank goodness for the patience and generosity of Brazilians, and how I wish I had invested more time in learning more Portuguese. As a native English speaker traveling in South America I never expect someone else to speak English to me just because it is the language I am most comfortable with. Which is why, I spent the last 6 months learning and practicing my Spanish so I was well equipped to live, move, and enjoy my travels in Spanish speaking countries. I arrogantly thought that knowing some Spanish would translate into, at the very least, being able to understand some Portuguese - I was wrong. The transition of traveling in a country where I at least knew some of the languge, to none of it left me feeling tired, frustrated, unsafe, and lonely. I would like to clarify this is not a reflection on the places I visited, or the people I met, but my own internal experience of living for two months with very little communication outside my students and family online.?

It was not until I visited a cafe in Brasilia that I diagnosed my exhaustion and stress as starvation for human connection and conversation. While placing my order and speaking in quiet Spanish to the owner of the cafe, I saw what I like to call the “look of confusion” on her face as she understood none of what I was saying. I apologized and translated on my phone that I do not speak Portuguese and was forced to point to what I wanted on the menu. A few minutes later a woman in a brightly colored shirt breezes into the cafe and starts ordering. I pop my headphones in, hoping to avoid someone trying to talk to me and having to explain I don’t speak Portuguese. Suddenly, this same woman drops her purse next to my bag on my table, pulls up a chair, and smiles at me. Pulling out my headphones, I recognize she is asking me if I speak Spanish as the cafe owner told her I did. She explained she was from Venezuela and her first language was Spanish though very few people she knew in Brasilia spoke it, and so she was excited to chat with the Gringa who spoke her mother language.?

It was like all the stress, fear, and fatigue I had been carrying melted away as we spoke and I realized that I had been desperately lonely. Seeing me open up, the cafe owner joined our conversation using a translating app on her phone and suddenly, for two hours, I had friends.?

This experience taught me why I think so many people are worried about traveling to county’s that don’t speak their native language - because it creates this bubble of the unknown and isolation that generates fear and stress. Learning a second language - even if I am not perfectly fluent, has allowed me to explore an entire continent, by myself, because knowing I can talk to someone if I need help, am bored, or want to make a friend is an option for me. My family, friends, students, and peers often ask me what makes me feel brave enough to travel well over 25,000 miles alone, and I used to joke, it was stupidity, not bravery. Now I know the truth, knowing and learning Spanish, a second language, is the source of my strength to try new things and adventure.?

This month we celebrate learning a foreign language and sure, it is a shameless plug to encourage new students to enroll with us in the new year. However, I believe learning a second language is like gaining a superpower - one that makes you fearless and opens doors to a beautiful, and vast world.?