Wyner - Fluent Forever
Beyond all the economic and mental benefits of language learning lies the greatest treasure of all: language learning is good for your soul. It connects you to new people and a new culture in ways you could never imagine. Italians are different when they’re speaking Italian, and German poetry is exquisitely beautiful—but only in German. You get to see different sides of people and cultures—sides which are hidden from the English-speaking world. You even get to see different sides of yourself.
I gesture in Italian. I have to gesture in Italian. When I speak Italian, I yearn to travel and see beautiful things, relax in the sun, and eat delicious food. All on its own, the Italian language fills my mind with happy memories, because all of my words are connected to the moments in which I learned and used them. Gelato isn’t the Italian word for “ice cream”—it’s a six-week, almost religious quest for the best gelato in Italy; it’s strawberry gelato in Rome and pistachio gelato in Perugia—it’s eating the best coconut gelato you could ever imagine while watching the waves roll into a sunny harbor in the Cinque Terre. My Italian words aren’t just the everyday words that I’ve used all my life; they’re a distinct set of memories that I formed with my own hands and brain. In learning that language, I created a new mind and a new personality for myself. That is the dearest gift of language learning—you get to meet a new you.