Hey Freinds.
Learning a new language can be challenging, especially if you're not used to it. It's a whole new way of thinking, and it can be hard to keep up with.
I have had the pleasure of working with a lot of people in my various jobs, and a good percentage of them were not native English speakers. I was always impressed with their ability to learn English. But myself, I never learned another langue. When I was in school, I was classified as having Dyslexia.
Dyslexia is a learning disability that affects reading skills. It can cause problems with reading, spelling, and writing. People with dyslexia often have trouble reading aloud, and they may read slowly or make errors when reading. Due to that classification, I was not put in foreign langue classes. At the time, I was happy that as ... Highschool, I could go to more art classes and smoke cigarettes out behind the school... but now, later on, I wish I did learn another langue.
Being that I have been in Vietnam for 3 years, I have challenged myself to change that and take up learning Vietnamese. It's been about 6 months now, and I can formulate basic sentences, I understand a little, and I can say some silly phrases.
Another thing I enjoy is community.
A few weeks back, I found a group called Danang Meet up. They looked fun, so I set up a meeting with their founder, Peter. Peter and I talked and thought it would be fun to do an event at a local bar. The idea would be a langue exchange night.
After a week of planning, last night was the night!!!
Needless to say, it was great, people had a lot of fun, we exchanged new words and made some new friends. So Cool!
Here are some photos from the meet-up and some descriptions.
The event started with me and the organizer sitting at a table by ourselves; we said: "I wonder if anyone will come?". With the recent storms and more storms coming, we thought people would just stay home, but WOOT WOOT! people came!
Round 1 was introductions, like how to say, "Hello, my name is ... ".
A few other people from the bar decided to come to join us as well, and the tables grew!
Then more people walked in and started to converse and take a seat! It was a great feeling to see people wanting to communicate.
Yea that is Shisha on the table, smoking, drinking, talking, smiling, learning... such a mix of things.
We played a Bingo game as well, where they would as a question, then on the bingo card word in Vietnamese. YOu would ask your Vietnamese friend about the words and try to make a BINGO.
This translates to, "Do you have a lot of Vietnamese Freinds?".
A local street vendor also walked in and joined the fun! It was nice to see a local come join us as well. That is what community is all about, inclusion and building people together.
Then everyone broke out into groups of 3 to make short situations, then tried to use Vietnamese to solve them.
It was good to see the discourse happening, and I think people learned a lot of great words; I think I did too!
Here are the people from the event, sans myself, as well; I was taking the photo... Lol
In summary,
One of the best ways to build communities and make friends is through language exchange. By talking with people from other cultures and backgrounds, you can learn about new customs and traditions. What's more, language exchange is a great way to have fun and learn new languages.
So if you're looking for a way to build communities and make friends, why not try a language exchange? Play some games, and have some fun. :)
Cheers, and thank you for reading.
