The value of a second language

When I told my friends that I was going back to school to improve my French, they were dumbfounded.  Almost everyone replied, “But you already speak French fluently.” To the untrained ear my ease speaking French might sound convincing, but I am certainly not fluent. In fact, far from it!  Having just returned from Morocco where my rusty language skills did come in handy communicating with locals —French is mandatory in school—it became obvious to me that some future brushing up was in order.

Why not go back to school, I wondered? So recently I signed up for a weekly 90-minutes, face-to-face class with a native-speaking teacher. From France, to be precise. And even when I grumble about the heavy assignment of devoir or homework which is part of the learning process, I remind myself of the multiple benefits studying a foreign language affords an individual. To find out if any of my friends agreed, I queried several people who’ve recently also taken the linguistic plunge.

Falling in love with a country and its language

My gardener, Codie Conigliaro, spends considerable time in Italy on holiday exploring private gardens, churches, and palazzi. Considering she used to escort trips in Italy, I figured her bilingual skills would be respectable.  How and why did she start her linguistic pursuit? Codie explained that after graduating from college she took an art history course in Rome. Despite not knowing a word of Italian at the time, she fell in love with the country’s culture, cuisine, and language. And perhaps the teacher too? Chi lo sa?

Back home in New York Codie began taking group lessons in Italian at the now defunct ABC language school. Eventually she stated vacationing in Italy renting houses in small villages throughout Umbria. Gradually, between her weekly language classes and practice with her Umbrian neighbors and shopkeepers while abroad, her comfort level speaking Italian improved dramatically. Codie became sufficiently competent that she could translate for her American friends when they came to visit her in Umbria. Now back in New York she has frequent conversations with her Italian friends to keep her fluency intact. Codie understands the danger of “use it or lose it.”

Codie believes that one of the biggest benefits of knowing a foreign language is being able to communicate with locals when traveling. This, as we all know, allows for a more authentic experience. According to Codie—who loves operas almost as much as gardening—the second advantage is being able to fully appreciate the quintessential element of Italian culture: their operas. La Bohème; Norma; Madama Butterfly; Il Barbiere di Siviglia;  and La Traviata, to name a few.

The convenience of on-line language studies

While some people prefer in-person language classes, others are more attracted to the convenience of on-line courses.  Kate Hanenberg, my neighbor who practices and teaches Architectural Interiors, has had remarkable success using the Duolingo app. Bear in mind, Kate is an individual of exceptional focus, determination, and linguistic dexterity. Plus, she is musically adept. Not only does she play the piano, but she also composes simple melodies. Considering there is a direct correlation between learning a foreign language and musical aptitude, one might say Kate has more than one advantage!

Initially, Kate Hanenberg used Duolingo to learn basic conversational phrases in Swahili before her 2020 safari to Tanzania. She proudly divulged that she continues to practice her Swahili daily by reviewing her 700-word vocabulary at home. She was quick to remind me that ”there are not that many opportunities to speak Swahili in my normal New York City life.”

When Kate was in Tanzania, she was surprised at how appreciated her attempts to communicate were; people were excited and pleased that an older white person would do this. She still treasures the memory of high-fives and the ultimate compliment Shikamoo meaning “I respect you.”

The international appeal of Duolingo

Kate was surprised to learn on her African trip that other Tanzanians were also using Duolingo. Being a fellow student helped Kate bond with several of the natives. She met a young man who was studying French in the far reaches of the Serengeti. Then, she learned that the concierge at the Ayusha hotel, near Mount Kilimanjaro where she was staying, ranked number one in Spanish. Kate was referring to the system Duolingo uses to recognize people who excel using their language platform.

Kate explained that she uses the paid version (although there is a free one) for both Swahili and now Spanish, too, in preparation of her next trip. She prefers Duolingo’s upgraded version as it offers more games and challenges along with the delightful and diverse crew of cartoon characters cheering her along the way.

When I asked Kate what benefits she encountered in learning a new language, she answered enthusiastically, “Learning languages is a valuable tool for sharpening memory. Figuring out the grammatical structure is also a welcome challenge. But the most important reason is to deepen one's experience in another country which helps to make it feel much less foreign.”

Language as career enhancer

My current French teacher (who requested that her name and institution not be identified due to company policy) has taught for over 40 years. I asked her why people came to her to learn French. She explained that the reasons vary greatly. Most of her students have been professionals such as opera singers, diplomates, or businesspeople working for French companies or with clients who speak French as their primary language.

There is no doubt that having a second language makes an employee more valuable in the marketplace. Foreign languages provide a competitive edge in career choices in a wide variety of fields from government, military, technology, law, industry, marketing to even medicine. Take for example the students who go to Bologna for medical school. With two years of university level studies, you can take your courses in Italian. (Full exposure: Courses are also available in English.) For those people who love to travel, not to mention those who couldn’t get into medical school in the States, studying abroad has multiple advantages.  

Learning a language as a distraction

Then, there are other students with a more personal agenda. My French teacher told me about a student who came to her one year because she thought learning French sounded chic.  “C’était une dillettante,” she explained with disdain in her voice.  Apparently, this student didn’t stay long before flitting off to conquer yet another new passion.

Another student took language classes because she was depressed about her mother who was dying of an incurable disease. The student claimed that when she was studying her French lesson, all that she could concentrate on was grammar, vocabulary, and proper intonation. This exercise, a total distraction from the sad realities of her life, helped her immeasurably.

Brain stimulation

It has been proven, too, that learning a language has a positive impact on your brain. Among the benefits is improving your analytical skills as well as your ability to deal with abstract concepts. Similarly, learning a second language has been credited with even improving test scores in English and math, both helpful subjects for SAT and GRE tests.  And, for anyone who has spent time seriously studying a language, you can easily understand how it improves both memory and listening skills. Others claim, as well, that it strengthens your creativity.

A way to delay dementia

And this brings me an important reason for my recent desire to study French. No doubt you have also read articles which assert that bilingualism can stave off dementia. A recent NYTimes article stated that “Research suggests that bilingual people enjoy some cognitive benefits later in life.”  But then it added the caveat of “But it probably requires more than a few Spanish lessons in your 60s.” 

Here’s the catch.  You need to use the second language frequently.  According to Caitlin Ware, a research engineer at Broca Hospital in Paris who studies bilingualism and brain health. “The cognitive benefit is from having to inhibit your mother tongue,” she said, which your brain is forced to do if you are trying to recall the right words in another language. “So, if the second language is used a lot, you’re getting that cognitive training. And that process — called cognitive inhibition — is linked to better executive functioning.”

Even just reading this explanation incentivizes me as a mature adult to spend more time learning French. Here is the entire article, should you be interested:  https://bit.ly/476gDRU.

A path to open-mindedness

Another benefit of acquiring a second language echoes the benefits of travel: It makes you more open-minded. Learning a language usually also provides exposure to the history, culture and customs of a country.  Directly or indirectly, this knowledge often helps minimize prejudice toward people who are different from yourself. By extension, it opens the possibility of being more tolerant and trustful of others, not a bad mindset to have given our ever-expanding, multi-cultural world.  This is one of the main reasons diplomates learn multiple languages. Not only is it essential in their work as a practical tool, but it gives them a more informed, nuanced, and objective platform from which to make complicated, geo-political decisions. 

In my research for this post, I spoke with Jonathan Fried, the son of one of my closest friends, wine writer Eunice Fried. Jonathan is a Shakespearean actor by profession as well as a university adjunct professor. His objective for studying is both academic and personal. As explained by Jonathan over lunch last month, “My ultimate goal is to appreciate plays written by Molière in their original language, not in a translated form.” (Jonathon was referring to the celebrated 17th century French playwright, stage director, and actor.)

Jonathan decided Middlebury College, the Grand Daddy of language schools, was the best place to fulfill his dream. He has been taking intensive immersion courses there for five years now.   This fall, he is taking an even deeper linguistic dive by going to the Sorbonne in Paris for three months. And when he is not taking university classes in Vermont, or now in France, he has two different tutors with whom he continues his studies via Zoom. Now that is a serious commitment.

In our discussion over steak-frites before he left, Jonathan shared with me some insightful observations of what happens on a more visceral level when you seriously study another language.  I asked Jonahtan’s permission to share his explanation with you in this unaltered text.

Learning a language as an adult: A true act of vulnerability

1. Not knowing = liberation

I came in at level 300,(referring to the level of language proficiency at Middlebury)  but even so I was immediately aware of how much I didn't know - this creates, for everyone, an initial crisis - suddenly my language skills are insufficient to convince people of my smarts, to fully describe my accomplishments, to control what other people think of me - and so on. I feel as if I'm being erased, and I am. But once I realized that everyone was feeling the same thing, I could relax, and the minute I relaxed even a little bit, I could see what was staring me in the face: this is great - for the first time since...adolescence?...I'm free of the constant battle to impress everyone, to control everyone, to manage the unmanageable. It's actually a very Buddhist perspective - you just give up the battle of the ego. So it's liberating to put down that struggle.

2. Humility = connection

From that came a secondary benefit, which was a reconsideration of what humility actually means. Again, quite Buddhist, by which I mean philosophically, not religiously. I always associated the word humility with humiliation/ groveling / passive - very un-American! Now, the idea started to mean something else - being an equal among many, being right-sized, not less, not more, than anyone else. Humility = equal. What a concept! Not what I thought would be happening in a language school, but there it was. And of course, this meant that my bond with my fellow-students intensified, and these 4 summers have become some of the most profound experiences socially of my life.

I should emphasize that I didn't come to these revelations alone - we all struggled with these changes in our identities, and we all talked about it. This was very much a communal journey.

3. Vulnerability = empathy

Allowing myself to be vulnerable had a delayed benefit - it wasn't until I was back in NYC after that first summer when I started to become much more aware of the people all around me for whom English was a second language. Just one example: the staff in Eunice's building - all Spanish-speakers, though from different countries. I had never really considered that for decades, my thousands of conversations with them were all through a filter of varying levels of difficulty, just as French is for me. I was oblivious to any effort or fatigue or unease on their part - any of the things I routinely feel in French. Being vulnerable at language school wakes people up to what other people are going through in real life.

4. Tolerance for ambiguity = treatment for perfectionism

The last thing I mentioned was a tolerance for ambiguity. This, too, is a benefit which appeared after the summer session was over and pops up in many ways other than speaking French. It's perhaps related to the freedom from not having to know everything but for me it's also more about confidence that even if I don't understand everything, I know enough to be included, to participate.

Maybe a better way of describing it is an antidote to perfectionism. The levels of ambiguity change as my proficiency changes - this summer was a good example of that because the reading was harder, denser, and I understood less of the details. But I could grasp the context, usually, and it was enough. Basically, it means I can struggle and remain in the game, and I think for many language-learners, it's 100% or despair, and no middle ground. The language school is full of perfectionists, and it makes every one of us miserable and it accomplishes exactly nothing.

I admire Jonathan’s in-depth perspective of what transpires when you are genuinely invested in learning a language.  This leaves out people who are seduced by the notion of becoming “fluent” after only several months of study. (Don’t believe those ads!)   He also reminds us that learning a new language is not a part-time job.  Despite my current burst of enthusiasm for going back to class to perfect my French, next to his intensive linguistic regime, my motives appear more like those of the “dilettante’s.”

Nonetheless, to make myself feel better, I remind myself of a friend who recently took up French at Berlitz. Her objective was to better understand what her Swiss mother-in-law was saying to her husband during their annual visits to Geneva. Considering her belle-mère does not speak a word of English—or at least claims she’s not conversant—it seems to me to be an excellent expenditure of time, effort and money. Perhaps not as lofty as reading Molière in 17th century French, but equally important. Afterall, self-preservation, is critical too!