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Ryan Paugh graduated from Penn State in 2006 with a Bachelor's Degree in Journalism and a minor in Business. After working in corporate communications, freelance writing and reporting, he co-founded 
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Clear skies, the beach and an over-sized margarita – that’s all I’ve ever asked for in a flawless summer vacation. This year I definitely hit the triple threat.
Last week, I spent my summer holiday in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico and it was a vacation to remember. As I sat back in my cubicle on Monday the phrase “back to reality” was reiterated as coworkers dismally welcomed me back. It got stale real quick. But hey, nothing great lasts forever and if you’re lucky, great experiences will leave you with a little something to remember.
Last week’s holiday didn’t leave me empty handed. I got a great tan, picked up some duty-free liquor at the airport, but most importantly, I made some new friends that inspired me to put my training wheels back on and rekindle a relationship with an old skill I’ve long forgotten – Spanish.
It’s the beginning of rainy season in Puerto Vallarta. Most American tourists steer clear, even though what rainy season really means is up to an hour of rain each night, with clear skies for the rest of the day. Finding an English-speaking person was a rarity and my only chance of branching out to some new people was to pull out some old tricks. I took five years of Spanish throughout high school and college. Unfortunately, Spanish isn’t exactly the same thing as riding a bike – you do forget. Lucky for me, I don’t mind playing the “stupid American” role to make some new friends.
I met a great family of Mexican vacationers who were probably the nicest group of people I have ever met. Luckily they spoke better English than I did Spanish. If they didn’t, we would have been totally lost. By the end of the week, I was starting to remember how to speak some broken Spanish. I was impressed with myself, but not satisfied. On the plane ride home, I vowed that I’d become fluent over the course of the next year. The world is full of too many interesting people and opportunities to only speak one language.
Of course, I work five days a week, co-run a website and barely have time to brush my teeth (but I do…really). How am I going to do it? My plan is integration.
Learning a new language can be easy as incorporating the lessons into your daily life. If you’re like me, and if you’re blogging you probably are, you spend a lot of time glued to the computer. Fortunately, there’s a plethora of software out there made for people just like us. The most popular of the bunch is Rosetta Stone, which I plan on using. It’s a pretty expensive package, but they claim to be “the fastest way to learn a language, guaranteed.�? I’m just considering it an investment in myself. If you don’t want to spend a lot of dough, try typing in a few key words on Google. Depending on the language you’re trying to learn, they’ll be a heap of programs out there from pretty pricy to dirt cheap.
The next step is finding the time to put it to good use. My suggestion is to find that hour where you’re really not doing much of anything and pop in a CD to take a lesson. Maybe it’s your lunch break, perhaps it’s first thing in the morning when you’re just getting into the groove or maybe it’s not until you get home from a hard days work. Whenever it is, find that time and use it to become a bilingual all-star.
The second step is to find a way to apply what you’ve learned. Luckily, I exchanged e-mails and became Facebook friends with the people I met in Mexico. We came up with a plan. I help them with English and they help me with Spanish. With all the time that young people like myself spend on social networks, it’s about time we put it to good use.
You don’t a have a friend from another country? Make one! If you blog, there’s no doubt that you have some comfort with starting conversations with random people. Find someone who speaks the language of your passion and make a connection.
If you’re better with face-to-face, find a friend at work. Like many modern day workplaces, my office is culturally diverse. My plan is to set up a few lunch meetings every month, buy a bilingual buddy a meal and let them listen to me rip apart their second language. Hopefully they’ll give me some pointers along the way.
As business keeps moving global, the benefits of learning a second language become more and more significant. Roughly 12 percent on of the American population speaks Spanish as a first or second language. That’s over 30 million people! And what about the Chinese? They’re kicking ass economically and could surpass the U.S. in the near future. Maybe some Chinese lessons is what it’ll take to boost your future career.
Even if it’s for the sole purpose of becoming a better person. Learning a foreign language will open your mind. It’s easiest to pick up these skills when you’re young, but it’s never too late to learn. If you’ve ever been passionate about it, now is the time to take the plunge. You don’t need to be in a classroom anymore to be taught effectively. The tools are available, you just have to know how to integrate it into your day-to-day life. If you’re passionate enough about it, you’ll know how to make it work.
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Languages are great, and you’re right, it’s about practicing with people around you.
I’ve been learning Mandarin for a few months now (slowly but surely) and the tough part is not being able to practice it. If I were in China I’d learn something every day…
Another great tool I’ve found is Pimsleur. Simply listening and speaking. It’s a great approach I’ve found.
Yeah, Mandarin is a tough one Devin. Practicing that with people around you isn’t going to be as easy.
The “Big 3″ in the U.S. today are Spanish, Chinese and French. You can definitely apply this technique to them. With a little research maybe German or Italian too.
I have been “casually” practicing French and Mandarin over the last month. Probably the coolest resource i have found is an abundance of FREE podcasts in both languages. If I am killing time, doing dishes, walking to the market, or taking a bus ride, I plug in my headphones and immerse myself in another language. I’m not exactly trying to be a translator for the UN, but so far I’ve found it to be a pretty enriching experience with just a few hours a week. Check it out!
I agree completely on this one, a second language is a wonderful thing. I was fortunate enough growing up to spend considerable time living in both Japan and Honduras.
I remember after leaving Japan, if it ever came up, people were most interested in the language and how difficult it was to learn. My only answer was “very” because I never bothered to learn it. Sure I learned to count, I learned cities, phrases, some introductory stuff, but it was all memorization, not learning. I probably had the vocabulary of a 2 year old when I left, and the more I had to answer that I didn’t know the language, the more I wished I’d learned. That time has now passed, and I realize if I had learned, it’d have been pretty cool, but I’d still be where I’m at now 7 years later, knowing how to count, say the alphabet, recognize a few things here and there, etc. I would have forgotten all of it. Because I could get by, for the most part, with simple English, it just wasn’t worth it to spend more time than what I’d pick up in natural use.
Luckily when I moved to Honduras I had some years of Spanish behind me. I was amazed at how much I didn’t know, but I had a great foundation to build off of, and each month that passed I became much more sufficient and learned at a rate that just couldn’t be done in a classroom. Also, I couldn’t get by with English, which was usually my excuse in Japan. I couldn’t put a price on how much and how fast I learned the language down there.
Years later, and Spanish is a lost friend. I hear it now and then, and the sounds and structure still make perfect sense. Fortunately, comprehension lasts a lot longer than you’d think…and it comes back after even a few days of watching the Spanish channels.
Rosetta Stone tries its best to give you the feel like you’re thrown into the language, and it’s useful because it gets you out of the “translation� mindset, and into the mindset of thinking in the actual language. The hard part I found, was that if you know the language, or have a decent understanding, it’s hard to find a place to jump in with lessons because the structure is so different. If you know the language and you’re just looking for a review, it might be best to try it out first. But if you’re actually going to relearn it, it’d be an extremely helpful tool.
A good friend of mine just finished a year of teaching in Japan. He had full intentions of learning the language when arriving. He studied every day and tried to speak with his students and fellow teachers in Japanese, but he eventually gave up because he could get by with English. I know he already regrets not becoming fluent.
From my travels, I noticed that much of the world speaks a little bit of english. This makes it easier to get by, but why shouldn’t we speak a little bit of Spanish, Mandarin or Japanese?
Je ne souviens pas beaucoup de francais. Alors, je travaille de temps en temps de l’utilizer.
I’m sure that was horrible. I used to know French inside and out, all six tenses, written grammar, and fluent spoken form. But having done nothing with the language (aside from the casual conversations with my highschool friends) since I testing out of my university’s language requirement, I’m more than a bit rusty.
I do miss it though, and I keep vowing to pick it back up in earnest. We have neighbors at our lake house who are from the Alps region in France. She’s even taught her daughter (who is only a year old) to be bilingual (Dad is American).
Good luck with the Spanish, Ryan! It definitely comes in handy even in non-Spanish countries. For instance, when I was in Italy my senior year we tried to visit San Marco but had to check our bags first. The bag check was around the corner outside the building, which was pretty hard for the Italians to explain, but they spoke enough English for me to understand. However, there was a woman there at the same time as me who spoke no English or Italian. She was French. So I attempted to roughly translate (a combination of Franglais & wild hand gestures) for her.
I suppose you never know. And like you said, the world has got too many interesting people in it to know only one language.
You’re absolutely right. I specifically looked for a job after graduation that would send me to China. Being the “white ghost” with my few semesters of Chinese and a couple trips to China, it wasn’t too hard to find an opportunity. I just came back from a six month project out in Guangdong, and it was an unparalleled experience. My Chinese improved by leaps and bounds too!
There are two podcasts that I found invaluable for learning Chinese (and Spanish too):
chinesepod.com and spanishsense.com
Hundreds of thoughtful lessons accompanied with online course materials. Free for podcasts and subscription for online services.
I wanted to learn Spanish to speak to some of our clients (I took french in high school and college), and one way that worked for me for awhile was downloading Coffee Break Spanish on podcasts and listening to them at the gym on my ipod. Everyone else has headphones on too so they don’t notice when you’re repeating “bocadillo” (sandwich) ten times. This post is a great reminder to start up again.
Rebecca:
That’s actually something I forgot to mention. I bought similar audio for my i-Pod for my afternoon jogs.
It’s kind of funny though…working out, talking to yourself in Spanish. Haha. People must think I’m nuts. Oh well…
-Paugh
I’m from Chicago, but I currently live and play in Barcelona. I’ve found that changing all of your computer programs to Spanish yields dramatic results. Try it…you’ll be glad that you did.
Ole! Quiero aprender espanol tambien. I think I left something out there. Anyway, good for you! I think when you learn another language, you can’t help learning and appreciating the culture too. This is all good. I was considering Rosetta Stone also, but ay yi yi, it’s expensive. Your idea about finding someone where you work to bounce your Spanish off of es muy bueno. I do the same where I work….I say Como se dice ‘x’ a LOT.
Yeah friend!! it’s true. Nowdays world is shrinking, we need to learn foreign language that will not only help you to become better wit, also u know the differnt tradition, culture of that particular country and lot’s of fun involved in that. Even I am learning German language,just started,in my academic curriculum. I don’t know how far i can go in, but I will try my level best to swallow most. Fun to learn…!!
i’ve got the glass ceiling of learning the foreign language though it’s just english… i can say but not so fluent, i can write but not so english…
i am seeking for the way to walk out. what’s the key????