Souvenirs

Concrete reasons to learn a new language

Today I wanted to do something a little different. I have talked about the things that I experienced while abroad, usually in the hopes that those things will inspire you, reader, to travel and use your language skills. Well, the other day I brought home a box from my childhood home and I found some things in it from my time abroad. Looking through them added even more fuel to the raging fire that is my desire for you all to achieve your language acquisition goals.

I thought we would go through a few of them so I could attempt to explain the memories they hold and why I chose to keep them. My primary “collectable” has always been postcards. I love writing letters and sending and receiving postcards. In fact, over the years I think my collection has grown to several hundred. They are light, relatively inexpensive, and, back in the day, they were higher quality photos than a phone could manage. However, there is far more that I kept that will remain with me forever and, perhaps, be passed down.

The Notebook

No, not the cheesy romance movie. Something far, far more meaningful. At least to me. Writing is as much a part of my life as I insist it be part of yours. For that reason, when I was living as an exchange student, I bought a notebook in Venice on a hot summer day. I remember walking into the shop and perusing the books, but this is the one I finally settled on:

At the end of my time living abroad, I asked my friends and new family to sign it. To this day, some of the things written in there are the nicest words people have ever said to me. Every person I was blessed to know while abroad wrote me notes and, though I did keep a journal, I love to read through them and relive memories from the perspective of people who I care for deeply. That said, there was always one message that meant the most to me:

I know it’s blurry, so here is the transcription:

Cher Odin, je t’avoues que je n’ai jamais eu une très belle image des americains, mais tu m’as appris que je me suis trompé parce que tu es vraiment quelqu’un de bien.

And in English: I admit that I have never had a very good image of Americans, but you have taught me that I was wrong because you are really a good person.

When I left the US and headed to Europe for my exchange, they told us we were ambassadors of our nation. A duty I took seriously and a role I took on with pride. This message, out of the hundreds I received, was among the most meaningful because it meant I had succeeded. Of course, there are those of you who would like to learn a language for a romantic reason. Well, worry not! Those also came, but they do mean less to me now than they did at the time for obvious reasons. Still, they are nice to read:

The Postcard Dilemma

Written notes from others are not the only souvenirs you should collect, though. You will come across countless opportunities to collect memories and I encourage you to do so. They can come in the most unexpected ways, too. For those who don’t know, sometimes buying postcards is such an adventure in and of itself that the mere act becomes a memory. Sending them and receiving them augments that and makes them even more precious.

I always suggest post cards because they are inexpensive, thoughtful options that you can hoard for yourself or send to others who you wish could join you on your adventure. They offer small amounts of space, so writing in your target language is easy because you don’t have to worry about complexity, and they are nearly universally available, even in towns of 5000 people. Here is a very, very small portion of my spread for reference:

You may notice holes at the top of them all. Well, the simple reason for that is that I used to hang them up in my room. Seeing all of the beauty the world has to offer when you wake up in every morning is inspiring. And whenever I felt like giving up on a goal, especially language related, I could just look up and remember what I was working toward.

Perhaps that is the most important part of collecting souvenirs (the French word for memories, thus my propensity to call it collecting memories) is finding things that speak to you. Of course, that is easier said than done. There is, however, one sure fired method to ensure you are collecting things that will continue to hold their meaning indefinitely: keep the things you receive.

Gifts from a lifetime ago

Over the years, I have been lucky enough to make friends around the world. Host families being the most obvious, I did live with them after all. But that is certainly not where it ends. I still have a, now dilapidated, scarf that my host family gave me even though I never wear scarves. I still have books and toys that my host families and friends gave me. Some of the clothes I wore, I still have because there are that many memories tied to them.

In fact, someone I love dearly gave me this stress ball and I use it every day:

Conclusion

You never know what is going to hold a memory for you. While I am a firm believer in making your own memories and collecting moments that mean a lot to you, don’t forget that you might be missing out on a whole different perspective of that memory. Learning a language is an abstract advantage until it’s not. My goal with this mini series, if you want to call it that, is to give concrete examples of what can happen when you take the leap and put the work in to reach your linguistic goals.

These things, and many others that I may share in the future, have shaped me and, quite honestly continue to shape me, into the man I am today. That is something I want all of you to experience because I understand the impact better than most. You are working hard every day to achieve your goals, you should know what lies on the other side waiting for you. It is difficult, but you can do difficult things and be great. So get out and do some difficult things and become great. I am rooting for you.