Yearlyglot.com Sun, 06 Mar 2011 18:33:28 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://www.yearlyglot.com/?blogengine=v1 Experiment 2015: The French Connection http://www.yearlyglot.com/experiment-2015-the-french-connection-2 http://www.yearlyglot.com/experiment-2015-the-french-connection-2#comments Mon, 09 Feb 2015 04:01:47 +0000 None http://www.yearlyglot.com/experiment-2015-the-french-connection-2
For 2015, I have decided I want to learn French. The reason I'm excited is because I've decided I'm going to learn by using it right from the start. Rather than spending extensive time studying or reading about grammar or vocabulary lists, I'm just going to jump straight into use.

Spoiler alert: I've already begun.

I'm watching French films on Netflix. I'm listening to French music. I'm finding reading materials online in French. And I'm going to start with a book as soon as I can pick one.

As you can imagine, comprehension is extremely low right now, and I'm spending a lot of time putting the things I see, hear, and read through translators... but I'm learning phrases and usage right from the start, rather than learning 1-to-1 vocabulary and then struggling over understanding where colloquial or grammatical difference make break down my expectations.

It's unconventional and a bit scary at the beginning, but I'm really excited to spend a year experimenting in this way in order to (hopefully) learn something new about how languages are acquired.

Wish me luck!]]> What I learned from my father http://www.yearlyglot.com/what-i-learned-from-my-father http://www.yearlyglot.com/what-i-learned-from-my-father#comments Thu, 18 Dec 2014 17:36:05 +0000 None http://www.yearlyglot.com/what-i-learned-from-my-father
He didn't want a funeral, didn't want a wake, didn't want a burial. Many people are surprised when they learn this. Only I, as the person who spent the last six years with him, know and understand the reasons why.

My father was a very sentimental man. Many viewed him as a hoarder, or a pack rat, but I remember countless times when he would pull something out of a drawer that looked like old rubbish, and then proceed to tell me a story about its origin, who he was with when he got it, what happened that day, etc. Most people thought he cared about things, but I know that the only thing he ever cared about were people.

People were the most important thing in his life. He always had some question to ask about the last thing you had mentioned. He was always interested in the people around him. And whether it was a matchbook or a broken coffee mug, or the name tag off of a uniform from a job you no longer have, he would save any tiny reminder of the people he knew and cared about.

Most people never understood that, and none ever returned the sentiment. In spite of having very little, and spending his entire life managing an obscene amount of debt, he would give anything to the people he cared about, and do whatever he could when anyone needed help. Few ever returned the favor. (I have the proof, because he saved things from everyone who did.)

When my mother divorced him and took us kids and hid hundreds of miles away, he found us and moved to the same city just so he could make every possible attempt to be a father to his kids. When his wives cheated on him and left him, he continued to help them with money and favors and protection from the losers they'd turned to. When his sons turned their backs on him, he continued to look out for their well being. But ultimately everyone he cared about eventually left him on his own.

Everyone except me. When his prescription drugs cost more than his monthly retirement check, I lived in a basement in a house of 10 people so that I could send most of my paycheck to him. When that wasn't enough, I found an apartment in the city large enough for us both and asked him to move there with me so that he could live for free and be closer to high-quality medical care. I've lost relationships and missed opportunities to travel or move because it was more important to me that I care for my father and be with him. And in the last six years, very few days ever went by when he didn't make sure I knew he appreciated it.

There is no memorial service, because as far as he was concerned, I was the only person he had in life. The only one who never gave up on him. Barely able to breathe, suffocating on cancerous fluid in his lungs, his final conversations with me consisted of him asking me about the things going on in my life and telling me about his memories with me when I was just a baby. It was the people in his life who mattered, and right up until his final words, that was abundantly clear to me.

What I learned from my father, more than anything else, was that the people around you are the most important thing you'll have in your life. When everyone else did him wrong, he kept caring. When everyone else took advantage of him, he kept giving. But when it was all coming to an end, he didn't fool himself about who they were or what they had been. He wasn't a fool, ignorantly giving to people who didn't care... he was a wise and forgiving man, always giving everyone one more chance.

Few, if any, will remember him the way that I do. I can only hope to be as wise, caring, and forgiving as he was.]]> Interlinear Books http://www.yearlyglot.com/interlinear-books http://www.yearlyglot.com/interlinear-books#comments Sun, 13 Jul 2014 17:05:15 +0000 None http://www.yearlyglot.com/interlinear-books Interlinear Book.

The concept is pretty straightforward, and not much different from the side-by-side "readers" that people have been using for ages. When I read Pinocchio in the original Italian, it was also a dual-language reader, with the Italian on one page and its Englinsh translation on the opposite facing page. This is a very useful tool for the language learner because it allows you to stay in the context, but to find a good translation when you get stuck.

What Interlinear does differently, though, is that each word or phrase is accompanied by its translation in a smaller font, directly below.

Interlinear Books


The smaller font for English helps it to stay out of your way while you read, and having the words right there for translation makes them easier to find, so that you don't have to switch to an English page and try to figure out where in the context you can find the word or phrase you need. It also helps because phrasal concepts can be grouped and translated without forcing you to try to parse an entire sentence to understand how it's different than the word-by-word translation.

This does not come without a small price, of course. Different grammars don't always line up squarely. In German, for instance, the prefix to a verb gets moved to the end of a sentence, so at times it might be unclear why a verb's translation is different until you examine the entire sentence and see no translation underneath the prefix at the end of the sentence.

It can also, at times, leave the English translation arranged in a way that makes no grammatical sense. You're not going to read the lines in English and enjoy the book. But I believe this is actually an advantage, because it prevents you from getting comfortable reading long passages in English, and instead it forces you to continue the journey through the original language of the text.

Available formats


The books are available in .pdf and (experimental) .epub versions. I used the .epub version and read on my iPad Mini, because I just don't have the patience and attention span to sit and read something in PDF.

For the most part, this actually worked out to be pretty great, although I noticed a few occasions where the text wouldn't line up perfectly, leaving a German sentence at the bottom of my screen and having to turn the page to see the English translation that should have been directly underneath it.

Example: The end of one page:

Interlinear Books


And the beginning of the next page:

Interlinear Books


While this was a minor nuisance at times, I think I actually began to like when this happened, because it was that much more motivation for me to try to figure things out rather than immediately cheating my eyes downward for a translation.

I think this is one of the challenges an e-book author faces when trying to create a somewhat formatted text inside of a dynamic format like epub, and I would say that for the most part, I was pretty impressed by how well Interlinear kept things together. One separate frustration I noticed, unrelated to Interlinear, was that the iBooks app seems confusingly unresponsive to screen rotation, which I eventually solved by disabling rotation when reading.

Final impressions


Overall I was pretty pleased with the Interlinear product. I've long stressed that the best way to improve your skill in any language is by using it, and this is definitely using it. Reading something in its original language — especially something on the writing level of Kafka — is a workout, and brings several challenges and opportunities to learn.

I've made great progress in language learning when using bilingual readers, as they give you access to common turns of phrase and expressions, along with a human translation that retains intended meaning, rather than a machine-generated word-by-word translation, and my experience with Interlinear was very much a good one, particularly as it finds a creative way to bridge the gap between side-by-side translations and e-books.

When I first started reading, they were offering books for four languages. At the time of publishing this, they're up to seven. Hopefully there will be many more coming, because I'd love to do this in Polish next. And I recommend you have a look for whatever language you're learning.]]> Does Esperanto have a culture? http://www.yearlyglot.com/does-esperanto-have-a-culture http://www.yearlyglot.com/does-esperanto-have-a-culture#comments Sat, 07 Jun 2014 15:08:12 +0000 None http://www.yearlyglot.com/does-esperanto-have-a-culture Language Learning Gets Personal series on the Smart Language Learner blog, I mentioned that I have no use for constructed languages because they have no native culture. As per usual, anything I say about Esperanto seems to stir up controversy, and this example was certainly no exception.

One example can be found on the blog of my dear friend Agnieszka Gorońska, who makes the argument that because Esperanto has movies and books and songs, it must have a culture. (Ignoring the fact that most of the examples she gives are more of the typical Esperanto theme that I hate: the only way people use Esperanto seems to be for the purpose of discussing Esperanto.)

But for the purpose of whether or not Esperanto has a culture, let's first figure out what it would mean to have a culture:

What is culture?


Adamson Hoebel describes culture as an integrated system of learned behavior patterns which are characteristic of the members of a society and which are not a result of biological inheritance. That's a pretty good start. And it already calls in to question the existence of an Esperanto culture.

But let's expand the idea. When we think of a culture, many things come to mind:

Certain cuisines can be easily attributed to certain cultures. It's easy to identify pierogi as Polish, döner as Turkish, pilaf as Uzbek, and sushi as Japanese. And what is currywurst if not inextricable from German culture?

Superstitions are also a key part of culture. Russians refuse to leave an empty bottle on a table, it must be removed. Americans "knock on wood" when they want to prevent bad fortune, and Italians touch metal (tocca ferro).

Clothing has very cultural significance. People everywhere recognize lederhosen as Germanic, berets as French, turbans as Sikh, saris as Indian, and kimonos as Japanese. The phrase "traditional Chinese clothing" conjures a specific image in your mind.

Different cultures also have different rules for social interaction. In certain cultures, it is considered rude to let someone see the bottom of your foot. In some cultures, making a circle with your thumb and forefinger means "okay", while in others it is a severe insult.

And almost every culture has its own rules about the significance of certain numbers. They even have different ways of counting money!

So what about Esperanto?


So what are some traditional Esperanto dishes? I know of no inherently Esperanto foods.

And garb? Other than indicating your Esperanto-ness to others by donning a green star, I am aware of no traditionally Esperanto attire.

Is there a customary Esperanto handshake? Is there any well-known Esperanto superstition? Are there any hand gestures that are known to be offensive only to Esperantists? I believe the answer to all of those questions is no.

When I google for "American culture", or "Italian culture", or "Russian culture", I find endless resources. Lists of traits that make a culture. And while some would argue that most of my criteria for culture are geographical, or political, it's not true. One can just as easily find most of these things true of "Jewish culture", or "gypsy culture", or "African-American culture."

However, when searching the web for examples of Esperanto culture, one only finds apologist texts, explaining that Esperanto culture is the antithesis of traditional culture. By that measure, Esperanto is a counterculture.

The only consistent "evidence" of culture anyone can provide is the amount of texts written in Esperanto. The only "cultural" symbol is the green star. The only behavior associated with Esperanto is the distaste for "crocodiling" — which refers to the act of speaking one's native language when amongst Esperantists. But all of these things are utilitarian. They're not tradition, they're done for a purpose, that usually being the purpose of evangelizing Esperanto.

I would argue that culture is not political, but rather is the product of history shared by a community. But unlike typical colocated communities, Esperantoland is dispersed, so there isn't enough interaction or shared experience to create culture. It's only after Esperanto communities start to form stable populations using Esperanto as a primary, or only, language that any culture will begin to form.

I'm not saying it can't happen, but I'm saying it hasn't yet. As far as I am concerned, Esperanto does not have a culture. ]]> Coffee talk http://www.yearlyglot.com/coffee-talk http://www.yearlyglot.com/coffee-talk#comments Fri, 28 Mar 2014 14:18:50 +0000 None http://www.yearlyglot.com/coffee-talk
After hearing her say more than just "thanks" and "here is your change", I detected an accent and asked her where she's from. She asked me to guess. Little did she know, I like that game! I took a careful look at her facial features, her hair, her skin color, and guessed Iran. In utter surprise, she asked, "did you say Iran?" Yes. I did. Was I right? "Yes, I am from Persia."

Boom.

Now every morning on my short commute to the office, I learn one new phrase in Persian. First it was "mam nunam" (thank you), which made here smile and giggle. Then it was "sobh bekheir" (good morning) which got wide eyes and another smile, and prompted her to ask if I had some Persian friend who teaches me. Nope. Then "ruze xubi dashte bashid" (have a nice day) which earned me a breathless laugh with body language one expects from a girl talking to her favorite boy band singer. And so on.

Each phrase is progressively only a tiny bit more difficult than the last, and all are capable of being combined into a full conversation. This requires almost no work from me, and doesn't interrupt my Polish studies at all. But the reward I get from watching this beautiful young lady's eyes light up when I walk in the door is motivation enough to keep learning more Persian. Maybe even more than one phrase per day.

And this is why I insist that it is not difficult to learn a language, and it's not difficult to become a polyglot. You don't do it for the collection of languages, or for some kind of bragging rights... you do it to communicate with people. As I always say, language is a means, not an end. And apparently, now I'm learning Persian. :)]]> The four seasons of language learning http://www.yearlyglot.com/four-seasons-of-language-learning http://www.yearlyglot.com/four-seasons-of-language-learning#comments Mon, 03 Feb 2014 00:51:26 +0000 None http://www.yearlyglot.com/four-seasons-of-language-learning four seasons of langauge learning. In years when I've used this strategy, I've had great success, and in the years when I've had less structure and mini-goals, I've had results that were less satisfying.

Winter

Each year with a new language, my skills begin as cold and lifeless as the winter season in which they begin. Much like shoveling a path out of my door, I find this initial phase of language learning to be filled with hard work and very slow progress. In winter I have to concentrate on absolute basics, and lots of them:
  • Alphabet and pronunciation
  • Learn how to read/write
  • Basic useful phrases
  • Vocabulary, vocabulary, vocabulary
  • Core verbs
  • Simple present tense
  • Lots of nouns

Spring

Eventually the cold melts away. Trees and flowers begin to blossom. Spring time is full of life, and this new language begins to spring to life. The spring time is growth, and that means grammar:
  • Verb conjugation in all tenses
  • Noun declension in all cases
  • Proper sentence order
  • Lots of writing exercises
  • Lots of time on Lang-8
  • Lots of google searches in my target language
  • Start reading blogs and tweets in target language

Summer

By summer, I know pretty well how it all works, at least at an academic level. But it doesn't come naturally yet, and there's still a lot I don't know. At this point it's all about language acquisition:
  • Read voraciously.
  • Books, short stories, newspapers, magazine articles.
  • Start watching movies and trying to follow along in target language.
  • Look for email friends, pen pals, chat partners.
  • Start using the language (at a slow pace) for actual conversation.

Autumn

Finally, as autumn arrives and the leaves start to fall from the trees, the language too starts to fall into place. From here out, the mission is fluency:
  • Speak as much as possible.
  • Talk to friends, talk on skype, talk to myself... whatever it takes. Be talking.
  • Listen to everything. Understand what you hear.
  • Find natural ways (in context) to improve vocabulary.
  • Learn some jokes.
  • Learn some tongue twisters.
  • Learn some slang.
  • Get comfortable.
]]> Put down the flashcards and read something http://www.yearlyglot.com/put-down-the-flashcards-and-read-something http://www.yearlyglot.com/put-down-the-flashcards-and-read-something#comments Mon, 30 Sep 2013 22:50:37 +0000 None http://www.yearlyglot.com/put-down-the-flashcards-and-read-something reading. It started with stories printed in the newspapers I picked up while in Berlin, and quickly moved on to fairy tales and short stories, and last night I downloaded some full-length Kindle books in German.

Over that time, I've begun to make an interesting observation — one that didn't quite stand out to me in the past, but which is quite obvious to me now due to differences in the times and orders in which I've taken on learning tasks this time around.

Last month, I was feeling very deficient on vocabulary, and not at all up to where I felt I should be by this point in the year, so I started using some apps and games based on spaced-repetition, in hopes of increasing my vocabulary. Even though I wasn't using flashcards, the tools I was using worked in a very similar way. But I was putting in a lot of work, and feeling good because I was rattling off memorized words correctly, so I must have been learning, right?

Nope. Wrong. These past several weeks, as I've been spending most of my time doing full-on reading, not just as exercises but reading for actual content, I keep running into those words I studied. Over and over, I keep seeing words, not knowing their meaning, looking them up in a dictionary or translation, and then smacking myself in the head because I should know that. But I didn't learn those words in any context, I learned them from something that is indistinguishable from a flashcard. They were just random words floating in the ether, with no other thought nearby except a translation that was equally void of context.

But as I've been reading, I've learned a ton of new vocabulary — not the 5-10 words a day that a casual learner might hope for from their flashcards, but something more like 30, 40, or 50 new words each day, and tons of additional context and uses for other words that I had previously learned. So I'm not just learning new words, but I'm learning new ways to use old words.

In one afternoon, I read half a dozen articles in 3 different newspapers about Microsoft acquiring Nokia, and what that means to those businesses. I could have spent weeks with spaced-repetition trying to memorize all the vocabulary I learned in that one afternoon, and I still wouldn't have had any context for any of it. And moreover, I was able to learn much of it, maybe as much as half, solely from the context, without any translation whatsoever.

The following week, as I began reading some of the original Brothers Grimm fairy tales, I quickly picked up a great deal of very useful vocabulary. And I don't have to waste time studying obscure words. It's easy to tell which vocabulary is most useful, because they're the words that keep coming up over and over! At the beginning of a story, I may have to look up new words several times per page, but I usually fly through the last several pages of the story without the need to look up any translations at all.

This all just underscores the things I've said in the past: put down the flashcards, and go read something!]]> How to improve listening comprehension http://www.yearlyglot.com/how-to-improve-listening-comprehension http://www.yearlyglot.com/how-to-improve-listening-comprehension#comments Mon, 23 Sep 2013 19:25:17 +0000 None http://www.yearlyglot.com/how-to-improve-listening-comprehension
It came as no surprise to me that my weakest area was listening comprehension. This is always the area where I struggle the most, for two reasons: first, unfortunately I have persistent tinitis so listening is something for which I have to work harder than most, and second, because I live in the United States where very few other people speak German and there are few reasources for me to practice. There is little I can do about my hearing problems, but fortunately there are still many ways that I can work to resolve my lack of German input!

Recently I received the following email, which I found quite timely:
I would like to know your take on how to improve listening skills, because it seems to be a controversial issue. Some people believe we only should listen to something we understand, say 90 to 95%, what it is said. Otherwise, would be a waste of time. Others, however, say we should listen to virtually everything, even not understanding much, just to get acquainted with the intonation and rhythm of the language, as long as the subject is interesting to the listener. The thing is, how to find something in between: nothing so easy that gets us bored, but nothing so difficult that leaves us with the feeling we don’t know anything?
— Sergio
Apparently I've been lucky enough to miss the controversy on this issue. But it only takes me about 5 seconds time to form a pretty strong opinion, which is this: If you're only listening to things you already understand, what are you learning?

Incremental challenge

I've mentioned game theory in the past, and I see it as very relevant here. You learn the best when you're given some things that you already know, along with a few small challenges.

For example, if you feel comfortable with 85-90% of what you hear, but there are a handful of new words, that gives you the best chance to learn those words. The portion you already know is positively reinforced, and it also serves as context for figuring out the portion you don't know. Sometimes that may be pronunciation. Sometimes it's a word or two that you've never heard before. And sometimes it's learning to recognize when that wasn't a word at all, but a name of a person or place.

If you have access to a teacher, a friend, or a conversation partner who is aware of your skill level, this is probably the best way to slowly improve your listening comprehension, because this person can tailor the things they say toward the things that you know.

But if you don't have this kind of excellent practice partner, there are still other ways to improve your comprehension...

Slowly building

Whenever I first try to watch a movie in a new language, I find myself constantly fighting the tendency to just zone out. There are so many new sounds coming at me so fast, I can just switch off my brain and fail to understand any of it. But slowly, over time, it starts to make a little bit of sense.

I've searched the foreign films section of Netflix and added several German films to my queue. Early on, I watch them with the subtitles on, and usually end up spending most of my time reading the subtitles just to keep up. But often, even over the course of a single movie, I'll find myself starting to get comfortable with the voices, accents, and intonations of the main actors, and by the end of the film I'm starting to understand short phrases and sentences without having to read the subtitles. This can seem frustrating and slow at times, but usually near the end of each film, I find myself feeling more encouraged and positive about my progress.

But the next part is even better: After I've found a few films that I like, I watch them again. The second time through, I don't have to pay such close attention to the subtitles because I already know what's going on. Now, I can try to just listen to the dialog, try to understand what was said, and then peek down at the subtitles to see how close I was. Sure, there will still be a lot of vocabulary I don't know, and there will be a lot of things I should know but that I will miss. But each time I re-watch a movie I've seen, I recognize phrases — even start to predict them coming — which is exactly what we do in our native language!

Transcription

In my opinion, transcription is one of most effective means of improving your comprehension, and especially helpful for highly phonetic languages. This can be done with a teacher or friend, or you can do it alone if you can find audio recordings that also have transcriptions. Music videos are often a good source for this.

You start by playing a little bit of audio: one sentence, or the beginning of a sentence, or even just a few words. Play it over and over until you feel like you know what's being said, and write that down. Then continue. Do this until you've finished your audio sample.

When you're done, pull up the actual transcription and compare what was said to what you thought you heard. The first few times it will likely be terribly off-base, often comical in how wrong it was. But who cares? You're learning! Now, take a break, and then try it again with the same audio. This time, having seen the right words, how much better is your ability to write down what you hear? Usually quite a bit better! Do that a few times and you'll be amazed at how quickly your comprehension improves!

Build your vocabulary

Finally, an important part of building comprehension skill is building our vocabulary. Each word is a pattern, a set of sounds, and when you know more patterns you'll recognize more words. This is where frequency lists become one of your most valuable tools.

Native speakers of a language often have a vocabulary of anywhere from 20,000-30,000 words, even to upwards of 60,000 words, and I guarantee it takes many years to reach that. But if you don't want to be disheartened, you can easily learn the most commonly used 2,000-3,000 words in a year or less, and quicky propel your comprehension to that 80-90% range. (In my Russian year, I found time to learn almost 5,000 words, which was a key to my ability to reach a useful skill level in just one year's time!)

So while it may not seem immediately obvious, one really great way to improve your listening comprehension is simply by... reading! Get some dual-language readers, or spend some time on blogs, news sites, or whatever else interests you, and get to work on building that vocabulary, in order to reduce the number of sound combinations you don't recognize. I like to read to myself aloud, so that I'm associating some sound with each word, and it doubles as pronunciation practice!

Other ideas?

What other tricks do you know? I have no doubt that there are some other people out there with some excellent comprehension exercises that I've never even thought of. Take a moment to leave some comments below!]]> Travel http://www.yearlyglot.com/travel http://www.yearlyglot.com/travel#comments Tue, 10 Sep 2013 22:29:36 +0000 None http://www.yearlyglot.com/travel
It's been a few days now since I returned home from my latest trip to Berlin and Poznan. Naturally, everyone asks "how was your trip", and there is plenty to talk about, but there's one question I keep getting, and it surprises me every time: people often ask, almost in disbelief, "You travel alone?"

But the answer is, I travel. I never say, "yes, I'm okay with traveling alone," because that's not the point. Alone is an excuse. The point is simply that I travel. I don't allow excuses do get in my way. I've done that before, and I'm not going to do it ever again.

Excuses

For most of my life, I knew I wanted to see the world, but I allowed every imaginable excuse to stop me. There are so many excuses! Which of these sound familiar to you?
  • It's too expensive
  • I don't have vacation time
  • What if something happens to me?
  • I don't speak the language
  • I don't want to do it alone
  • My spouse can't go
They all sound different, but really they're all the same excuse: I'm scared.

The truth is, there are easy solutions for all of these excuses. If you don't want to spend money on hotels, there are low-cost hostels in most European cities. There are also endless free couches to be found on Couchsurfing.com, which will also solve your problem of not knowing anyone in your destination city. Languages can be learned. A job that doesn't give you vacation time should be quit. And a spouse who can't, or won't, travel with you is not a reason why you shouldn't do it.

What will you remember in five years?

When I look back five years, I barely remember the car I used to have. I can't quite recall which pants were my favorite, or which shoes I wore most. With the exception of the model number, my phone was the same then as it is now, and that's just about the extent of my memory of five years ago. I can't remember which restaurants I ate at. I don't really recall the pubs I visited. The biggest expenses, the most difficult decisions, the things we make into such a big deal... they just aren't.

But I can remember every detail of my flight to Tashkent. I recall names of streets and subway stops, and every single item I packed for my trip to Barcelona. I remember every hotel and every restaurant from my month in Italy, every moment of my visits to Poland, and I guarantee that five years from now I'll still be able to describe everything I did last week in Berlin, or the week before in Poznan.

And travel might be enough on its own, but it's all the more special when you're meeting friends everywhere you go. Meeting new friends, or reconnecting with old ones, it's hard to think of a better use of your time, your money, your resources.

Seeing the world reminds us how small we are, no matter how big our problems or our lives may seem. It reminds us that there's still so much we don't know... and gives us a chance to know some of those things.

Don't be one of those hobbyist language learners who collects languages from the comfort of their own home. Get out and use those skills for what they were meant for — meet new people, see new places, experience new cultures. Live a little, before it's too late.]]> Be a good ambassador http://www.yearlyglot.com/be-a-good-ambassador http://www.yearlyglot.com/be-a-good-ambassador#comments Tue, 03 Sep 2013 12:43:25 +0000 None http://www.yearlyglot.com/be-a-good-ambassador
In spite of the rise of low-cost travel in the last decade or two, it's still true that a majority of the people you will meet in any country have never left their border. It's cheaper than ever to see the world, but for many people it's still too difficult, too expensive, or maybe just too scary.

Many of the people you meet on your journey will only know about your country what they learned in school, what they've seen on television or in books, or what they've heard in stories told by their friends.

When you travel, you become the face of your country. You become the thing that these people will talk about with their friends.

As an American

As an American, this is especially important to me. My country's politics are always on the center stage for the world to see, and honestly, my country's politics are not always something I'm proud of.

When I travel to a new land, I am often much more than just a foreign visitor. Often, I am the guy who voted for Obama (yes, I did), or the guy who voted for Bush (no, I didn't). Sometimes I represent the latest military action in the middle east. Sometimes I represent the ignorance of American education.

But when I travel, I'm the American who speaks more than one language. I'm the stranger who helps carry your heavy bag up the stairs in the train station. I'm the patron who takes my scraps to the trash instead of leaving a big mess for the waiter. I'm the passenger who gives up my seat for you on the metro. I'm the houseguest who folds the sheets and puts them away rather than leaving a task for my hosts.

When people put on the news, they'll see Americans acting badly. And if they watch any American television, they're likely to see more. But after they've met me, I hope they see that America is not limited to these things.

Americans are more than just the charicature you see on television. We're a good and friendly people, with the best of intentions. But most of the world has no way of knowing that, so I do my part to be a good ambassador of my country wherever I go.

Wherever you're from

Are you a Russian, still living in the shadow of the Cold War? Are you a German with a reputation for having no sense of humor? A Frenchman perceived as pompous, or a Brit who makes bartenders fear for the peace of their establishment?

Every one of us has a reputation we didn't earn. But when we travel we have an opportunity to correct that in some small way. And maybe though our combined efforts, we'll all learn to see that we're not all that different, no matter where we come from. As Mark Twain famously said, "Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness."]]>