Sunday, June 23, 2019

Why language learning?

We are investing the month of June at MTI, a learning / preparation center for living cross-culturally.  The first few weeks focus on phonetics, phonology, the production of (often non-English) sounds, etc. To learn the method of language learning, we practiced in Russian, Mongolian, and a southeast Asian language spoken by fewer than 50,000 people.  Fascinating!

Why invest this way? 
Recognize that language learning will affect your personality and self‐expression.  ... As a Czech proverb says, “Learn another language, get a second soul.”  A‘new side of you’ will begin to emerge as you get into this production!  You will begin to take on their mannerisms, behave as they behave, respond how they respond, bristle where they bristle, etc.  And you may actually relish it!  
- MTI Perspective page 7
This is our initial step: to gain a new side of ourselves, to take on the perspective and understanding (imperfect though it will always be) of the Bosnian people.


No comments:

Post a Comment