I remembered while we were growing up, in my junior secondary school precisely, we were forced to learn French Language and it was kind of frustrating to us then because we were like “what is the use of this language that you are trying to force on all students?”
There was a funny meaning we gave French language then; “French is the language which my mother do not hear, my father do not hear and you want to force me to learn it.” (This can be sweet in Yoruba interpretation) 😅
Funny enough, we never knew how important being bilingual can be. We thought it wasn't necessary then since we are only used to two languages in my country. Your mother tongue and the official language which is English.
I am a real Yoruba girl, but it's kind of weird that I still cannot speak it fluently. I used to twist some deep words that makes people curious to want to know where exactly I came from. Lol
It was kind of a battle for me trying to form my proverb and twisting someone else's own. People around me make jest of me because of this. It's not funny at all because why won't I understand my language? I mean, my mother's tongue? It's so sad and bad though.
As I grew up, I come to realize the benefits there in learning other languages to yours, because there are good opportunities out there for a bilingual or multilingual person and he or she would enjoy it. One of the benefits is meeting new friends who understand such a language and seeing that someone else is learning and speaking their language, it's fun and interesting to them.
I started watching Korean movies a lot back then, and I fell in love with their language, especially the way they speak it. There are some characters that I love especially Lee Min hoo. This is the only name I can remember though, but for the Korean language, I so much love it.
There is a girl who loves K-drama movies and it's awesome to hear her mentioning all their names without mincing them together. She has mastered the meaning of some simple words of greeting and asking some questions through the language and I am kind of amazed at her love for the movies.
There is a lady in my compound. She would always greet me in Korean and after teaching me how to respond, I started replying her till today. I love their language but there is another language that stood out to me and will choose it over and over again.
It's Spanish - Espanol!
Yea! I have made a post about this before, where I talked about how I have started learning Spanish on Duolingo App and for now, I can greet, and describe a place for someone in Spanish, and say some simple sentences with it.
I took it seriously some months ago and till today, I still practice Spanish and I always love its pronunciation. That is one reason that made me want to learn this language.
Spanish is very easy to learn. Its accent is interesting and sweet to the ear. I love it when I watch movies with Spanish translations, even though I switch to English to understand, but there are some sentences they say that makes me happy repeating the meaning in my mind.
I remembered @starstrings01 made a post about this particular language and I can see that I am not the only Nigerian who would always want to learn this language because it's fun.
There are great benefits to learn other languages, especially foreign ones when you come across a big opportunity, it will be easier to communicate and be loved by those who speak this language fluently. I do love Spanish and I can't wait to start reading some texts without having to use Google Translate for it.
Thanks for your time