We were able to visit my mother-in-law this summer in a different country and were once again sidelined by the language differences in other countries. When I first traveled overseas, I remember knowing how spoiled Americans have become because English is spoken almost everywhere. That hasn’t changed, but I’ve realized even more for our children that knowing more than just our native language is almost imperative in today’s society.
Watching and listening to some people float from one language to another so easily is beautiful and I am always humbled by it. My Spanish is halting and I adopt some strange gringo accent each time I speak, which even makes our children buckle over with laughter. Some people will humor me and give me the time of day and others immediately begin talking in English because they just don’t have the time to deal with my learning curve.
Instead of beating myself up over what I did or didn’t know in various languages, I started to realize over time
By Paige Alam