Not long ago, I spent time in a Spanish speaking world, where my native language, English was rarely understood. If you haven't been in this type of situation, I highly recommend it. Why you ask?
1. It gives you perspective. Remembering how large the world really is helps push us to step outside the complacency we all tend toward, and generally become more accepting, and less self-centered.
2. Experiencing how language and social norms interact to drive behavior differences between cultures is cool.
3. It sparks the part of your brain that pursues knowledge and self-improvement...the area of your personality that pushes to make life greater, deeper, more involved.
4. Funny moments of misunderstanding pop up regularly - often based on misuse of words, accents, etc
Sometimes not only language, but accents can even get in the way for those sharing language (think Downeast Mainer and Creole Louisianan trying to converse on a bad mobile phone line) and this becomes not only comical but at times baffling. Just how many rounds of "telephone" did some words need to go through before language, dialect, and accent made two speakers of the same language unable to understand each other beyond "hello" or "thanks"??
This concept carries into foreign languages as well, and gets even more exaggerated. Perhaps it's a quirk of Argentine spanish, but I've often found that no matter how hard I tried to pronounce my Spanish authentically to a Buenos Aires local (taxi driver, hotel clerk, waiter) they didn't have a clue what I was trying to say. If I were in France, I might chalk this up to part attitude, part true incomprehension. But here in B.A. surrounded by pleasant and welcoming Argentinians, It really felt like I was 95% there on accurate pronunciation, and still the taxi drivers reacted as if I was speaking gibberish. It seemed as though the accent was of more importance than the words themselves!
Isn't this a great parallel to life? Accents are akin to nuances in the ways we all complete the same basic things in a day. Take for example, the way that we eat. Some wouldn't dream of ever skipping one of their 6 courses, while others won't eat unless their loved ones are present. Others still are perfectly fine eating by themselves in a fast food parking lot in under 3 minutes flat.
The way we eat, move, talk, walk, and even the way we sleep - all are accented, and these accents are what define us to our friends, family, and strangers...heck, probably even animals. Just like speaking accents, the differences in our life accents we all hold can provide some exceptional humor at times. Think about all the instances when total opposites bump into each other's lives somehow...somehow two people are attracted to each other, be it platonic or otherwise, but at the same time they have some polar opposite accents. Sit back and watch for some laughs, but beware, drama comes with this territory as well. Call them quirks, endearments, or accents, it certainly is awesome that we've all got our own set of accents, because otherwise we'd just be plain boring. And speaking of boring, I'll end this blog now, so you can head to a foreign land or learn a new accent!
1. It gives you perspective. Remembering how large the world really is helps push us to step outside the complacency we all tend toward, and generally become more accepting, and less self-centered.
2. Experiencing how language and social norms interact to drive behavior differences between cultures is cool.
3. It sparks the part of your brain that pursues knowledge and self-improvement...the area of your personality that pushes to make life greater, deeper, more involved.
4. Funny moments of misunderstanding pop up regularly - often based on misuse of words, accents, etc
Sometimes not only language, but accents can even get in the way for those sharing language (think Downeast Mainer and Creole Louisianan trying to converse on a bad mobile phone line) and this becomes not only comical but at times baffling. Just how many rounds of "telephone" did some words need to go through before language, dialect, and accent made two speakers of the same language unable to understand each other beyond "hello" or "thanks"??
This concept carries into foreign languages as well, and gets even more exaggerated. Perhaps it's a quirk of Argentine spanish, but I've often found that no matter how hard I tried to pronounce my Spanish authentically to a Buenos Aires local (taxi driver, hotel clerk, waiter) they didn't have a clue what I was trying to say. If I were in France, I might chalk this up to part attitude, part true incomprehension. But here in B.A. surrounded by pleasant and welcoming Argentinians, It really felt like I was 95% there on accurate pronunciation, and still the taxi drivers reacted as if I was speaking gibberish. It seemed as though the accent was of more importance than the words themselves!
Isn't this a great parallel to life? Accents are akin to nuances in the ways we all complete the same basic things in a day. Take for example, the way that we eat. Some wouldn't dream of ever skipping one of their 6 courses, while others won't eat unless their loved ones are present. Others still are perfectly fine eating by themselves in a fast food parking lot in under 3 minutes flat.
The way we eat, move, talk, walk, and even the way we sleep - all are accented, and these accents are what define us to our friends, family, and strangers...heck, probably even animals. Just like speaking accents, the differences in our life accents we all hold can provide some exceptional humor at times. Think about all the instances when total opposites bump into each other's lives somehow...somehow two people are attracted to each other, be it platonic or otherwise, but at the same time they have some polar opposite accents. Sit back and watch for some laughs, but beware, drama comes with this territory as well. Call them quirks, endearments, or accents, it certainly is awesome that we've all got our own set of accents, because otherwise we'd just be plain boring. And speaking of boring, I'll end this blog now, so you can head to a foreign land or learn a new accent!
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