Thoughts on Language & Culture

I find foreign languages and cultures to be very interesting.  I feel very fortunate to be able to live in this other culture and experience it from the inside because I know this is something that most people will never have the chance to do.  Living here in Spain, I have been exposed to even more cultures than I expected.  I thought I would live with a couple Americans, have some Spanish friends, work with my Spanish students & coworkers and hang out with a bunch of other Americans and that would be my life here in Spain.  I was proved wrong right away.  So far I have met and become friends with people from many different countries and cultures. 

For example, I have three roommates here in Spain.  Two are from Chicago and the other is from Lyon, France.  I find it funny that I have become totally accustomed to hearing French spoken around me, even if I don't understand what she is saying.  It's been really fun and interesting talking with her and comparing our cultures in the US to Spanish to French cultures.  Often I am very jealous of her because she already lives in the EU and therefore never has to pay an exchange rate for money, already measures in Celsius, meters & kilos and she is already familiar with other European things that are different and/or difficult for us Americans.  

The first friends that we made in Baza happened to be from Morocco.  When we are hanging out with them, we hear a lot of Arabic and learn a lot about Moroccan culture.  They really like to talk about Moroccan customs and history.  Sometime soon, they are planning on preparing some Moroccan food to share with us.  I am really looking forward to that!

There are two English auxiliaries in our city that are not from the US.  One is from England and the other is from Australia.  It has been fun talking with them and comparing word, phrase and grammar differences between the three different countries.  Like I said in my last blog, I am learning a lot more English here than I expected to!

I have also met people from other countries like Germany, Romania, Somalia and Scotland, but I have not spent as much time with them as I have with the others.  For someone like me, this is an amazing experience because I am so curious about how people from other countries live their lives and living in such close proximity to other countries, I am able to meet so many people first hand!

Then of course, I have spent lots of time with Spaniards.  I really enjoy learning more and more about Spanish life and culture, and now that I am speaking in Spanish everyday, I am learning a lot more.  I believe that it is so much easier to get to know another culture by learning their language and especially their idioms, because it explains a lot about why they may do the things they do.

Rome 2010

Now that I have finally started to receive paychecks here, I am hoping to take a few trips outside of the country to experience some different cultures first hand.  Unfortunately I will not be able to understand the languages of these places, but I will be able to get a feel for how they live by being directly immersed in their big cities.