the beauty of language learning

I've just returned from a lovely holiday, with the exception of my almost 12-hour drive back home. Usually the drive only takes 8 hours but there was snow in the way. And a semi that jack-knifed, tipped, and blocked traffic for ages.

Anyway, I just wanted to share a thought that hit me over Christmas break. I was talking to someone who though that learning a language would be too hard and that he would never be able to do it. He absolutely loved maths. I told him his:

Learning a language and doing maths are very similar. In maths, we have equations into which we input information to achieve an outcome. In language, we have grammatical structures into which we input vocabulary to produce an outcome. In essence, the two are very closely related, though the outcomes are quite different.

At first he looked at me like I was nuts, but then a smile slowly came upon his face. He never thought he could do a language because it was nothing like maths and sciences.

Language is a science. It is the science of speaking, communication, expression. It is a beautiful thing, language, and most often taken for granted. People shorten, change, even abbreviate their languages to the point of sounding ridiculous, when we should be trying to lengthen and improve our communication.

Language learning is for those that decide that communication is a powerful tool and with that tool, can create a world that is much better than the one we currently inhabit.

Learn a language.

It will be worth your time.