My Brain Will Thank Me Later

Why I will Always Choose to Learn a Language the Hard Way

As I signed into my Duolingo app yesterday, standard procedure for my morning and evening routine, I noticed a new feature. As someone who has an annual subscription, I appreciate the flexibility and different features that help me in my language learning journey. Plus, no ads, and no limits on how much you can learn a day because of the unlimited lives. However, this new feature not only has another paid tier, but it also seems to have AI incorporated into it. 

I promise this isn’t going to be some manifesto against AI though, if you know anything about any sort of sci-fi writing, especially if you’re familiar with Dune lore, you’ll likely know AI is absolutely a proceed with caution sort of thing. Personally, I avoid it as much as possible, even as companies try to shove it into our faces (literally). I appreciate technology when I can use it as I see fit, not when it is being forced upon me. I don’t want to be so reliant on the internet or machines when I can do something healthy for my brain instead.

This, and many other reasons, are why so long as I am on this earth I will always choose to learn another language rather than just ask google translate. Is this the more difficult path? Obviously. Right now I am reteaching myself Spanish, while trying to provide a good basic knowledge of Korean, also known as Hangul, before hopefully taking classes sometime in the near future. After that I have plans to learn Japanese, German, Hebrew, Arabic, and hopefully many more. 

When you major in voice, whether that be education, performance or otherwise, you take Diction, which gives you the basis to learn how to read the most common languages used for singing. As a result, I can read a couple languages and almost sound fluent, even if I don’t know the majority of words I am saying. Of course if one wants to perform a piece and emote effectively, you translate that work. This class, along with being blessed to do so much international travel, has always made learning different languages and about different cultures a consistent passion of mine. 

Now, when I started traveling internationally, we did not have supercomputers in our pockets, so there was no google translate on tap. When I went to Greece, I was by no means fluent but I knew about 200 words, enough to order street Gyros on our way to and from the Acropolis each day. When I went to Spain, I wasn’t fluent, but certainly knew enough to be comfortable if I was lost to know my way back to where I needed to go. In Germany, Austria, Switzerland, they appreciated the effort to speak German, but often just said “don’t worry we speak English”. It wasn’t insulting, and I could tell they appreciated the effort. Don’t ask me about French…I don’t know why but I cannot for the life of me speak French. 

So now that we have google translate and supercomputers in our pockets that can do all these translations, why would I choose to do something as tedious as learning another language? Isn’t it much easier to just ask my phone to do all the work for me?

Well it is that precise reason why I choose to challenge my brain to do this the “hard” way. I am using my phone most often because of the Duolingo app, but I am also reinforcing and creating new neural pathways in my brain when I learn a new word, or in the case of Korean, learning a completely new alphabet and sentence structure. It is difficult, especially because our brains are more hardwired the older we get. Learning a new language is best done when you’re younger. But doing so when you’re older keeps your brain active and I think that we should always be trying to learn something new.

Furthermore, generally when one learns a new language they tend to also learn about the culture(s) that language is associated with. As the world becomes more interconnected, I feel like this is incredibly important, and given where I grew up it was impossible not to be aware of cultures from around the world. Again, this is something excellent for one's brain, and I would say also great for one to have an appreciation for humanity. It’s a lot harder to be cruel to someone else when you see parts of yourself in them, and I think that learning another language and perhaps someone else’s experiences are great ways to bring people together. 

Now look, I get it. Not everyone grew up in a place where they are likely to hear more Spanish, Korean, Arabic, or Vietnamese walking through school hallways than English like I did. Also, learning another language, as previously mentioned, is HARD. While I may be very conversational in a few years in the two I am learning now, I won’t be fluent for a decade probably, especially as I add on more. There’s also the simple fact that language learning comes easier for some people than others, and that is ok too. 

At the end of the day, I love learning languages and will continue to do so because I see the benefits outweigh any sort of negative. It is wonderful for your brain, it lends itself to learning about different cultures, and helps humanize the world and the people in it. This is why I will always choose to learn another language rather than use google translate, and I know my brain will thank me later for it, even if it's frustrated right now. 

And to think, all of those thoughts came because Duolingo decided to insert AI into its app. Now, it’s time for another cup of tea, and to do some Spanish and Korean.