Clarification and Celebration

I did something exciting today. But before we get to that, I must clarify something.

The day before we left for Germany, a student from my second alma mater called me asking me to donate money (of course) to the university. She asked me about what I studied, and I informed her that I studied communication disorders. In fact, that was my second degree. For my first bachelor's, I studied linguistics. (I actually studied English language, which is not the same English—but no one usually catches that.) And then she asked it. The Question: "Oh! So . . . how many languages do you speak?"

I hate this question.

Let's just get something straight here—"linguist" does not necessarily mean "polyglot." Yes, some linguists may be fluent in several (or many) languages. But other linguists have studied maybe one language for a just short time. And polyglots may not have any interest in the study of linguistics at all. Linguistics is an extremely broad area of study, but Wikipedia puts it simply: "Linguistics is the scientific study of language. There are broadly three aspects to the study, which include language form, language meaning, and language in context." A scientific study of language does not necessarily mean an endless study of all languages.

I, for one, am interested in first- and second-language acquisition (how babies and adults learn languages) and speech perception (how we hear and understand sounds in a language). I had a professor in college who was interested in humor found in structural ambiguity. Another had a dream about writing a book about what people find irritating. Others were interested how language changes over time, how people understand legal jargon and interrogation language, how technology can improve language learning, how the brain interprets and produces language, or how the presentation of information contributes to effective (rather than artistic) interpretation. But there are also linguists who study endangered languages in isolated communities or who study rare dialects of a language like Russian. And others study how language influences your thoughts or how one language can change the grammar of another or how words make it into the dictionary. Yes, familiarity of another language is certainly helpful, but linguistics is not just about learning languages.

I definitely have a few linguistically minded friends who pick up languages like rocks on the side of the road, tossing them into a pile of fluency about as big as Sebastian's pile of rocks by our front door. (Don't worry, I get jealous, too). I, on the other hand, am not fluent in any language. Yes, I enjoy learning different languages. And yes, I've studied several different ones. But I do this because I'm interested in language—no different than being interested in books, music, food, or technology.

Curtis loves books. He's read more books this year than I have probably read in my entire life. But just because he likes reading books does not mean that he has (or would be good at) writing them. And just because someone likes listening to Rachmaninoff does not mean that person has composed dozens of preludes. Just because the connoisseur of French cuisine has a refined palate does not mean he can cook like Thomas Keller. My brother-in-law will tell you that just because he studies electrical engineering does not mean he can rewire all of the electricity in your house.

But whenever anyone asks this question, I feel that I need to make an excuse for myself—which is unfair.

Now back to my exciting something.

I asked for directions in a grocery store and found what I was looking for. Trivial, you say? I would say so too, but after years of cultivating my German (and even more years of letting it rot), this is—count 'em!—the third time I've used German in "real" life. I chose to live in an apartment for two semesters at BYU where you were required to speak only German. I volunteered at the Missionary Training Center in Provo as a role-player to help German-speaking missionaries practice the language. I participated in a German choir and performed for a German-speaking ward in Salt Lake. I married a German-speaking returned missionary and used German as a code language in our ever-bustling apartments for a bit of privacy. But I considered all of these experiences as practice and preparation. Preparation for what, you ask?

Well, (1) when I was living in Ukraine, I vacationed to Vienna and Dresden—I exchanged money and bought a book. (2) When I was working at the Marriott Hotel in Provo, Utah, a woman wanted to book a room, but she didn't speak English very well. I checked her in, explained the workings of the hotel, and resolved her issue of needing ice for her medication in German. Kachow! And today, (3) I chatted with some kindergarten teachers about how old Sebastian was and listened to the way they talked to their children. ("Remember, the park is for everyone, so if the small one wants to play, invite him and help him. But be careful because he's still small.") Then I walked to the grocery store. After looking for dry lentils for nearly fifteen minutes, I mustered up the courage to ask someone for "trockenen Linsen." She told me that the "ganz normale Linsen" (which I thought was just cute) were at the very front and to the right—hmm, next to the cleaning supplies? Glad I asked. 

Basically, I'm just excited to be here. After taking my first semester of German at BYU eight (!!!) years ago, I'm finally here. I'm excited to learn and flourish. And all that preparation will pay off.