Why I started learning a foreign language

I want to tell you the story of how and why I started learning a foreign language. Just a random bit of my history heavily summarized.

My history with Swedish

Back in 2013-ish I was (and still am) an avid Minecraft player. I’ve been playing since the early days of Alpha edition. I was also a part of multiple servers and a well-respected builder in those communities. A large chunk of my free time was Minecraft, so it was no wonder when I discovered the game is developed in Sweden, I immediately set my sights on learning a bit of it. I went on to order tons of reference materials in the hopes to learn Swedish.

The first book I ordered was “Colloquial Swedish (Colloquial Series) 3rd Edition” by Routledge: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/041536275X

It’s worth mentioning that before ordering this book I’d only been through middle and high school language courses. Mostly for French or Spanish, nothing Germanic. So this was definitely a long-shot that I would dedicate and become fluent in Swedish by any measure. Regardless I tried my best at the time with writing, flashcards, audio, and reading whatever I could find to help improve my Swedish language skills./ While I did learn quite a bit of Swedish it didn’t stick initially. The learning curve was too great at the time, and it remained on the backburner for awhile (queue the depression era of gender dysphoria and college student struggling).

My history with German

Around 2015-ish I started to make frequent trips to Switzerland for personal reasons. Along the way I met someone who I became great friends with. She eventually began to teach me the local language – Swiss German (Bernese dialect more specifically) and subsequently German. You might not know the difference between those two languages, however, the best I can explain it is that Swiss German isn’t really German. Swiss German is a bunch of different languages, each unique to their respective regions.

Since I had a local teaching me the language, I was able to immerse myself a lot more than independently learning German. Eventually I was able to independently learn German and started taking language courses at my local college as a part of my major. I was able to breeze right through four semesters of German courses because I had previous history and experience with the language. Quizzes and tests? Don’t need to study. Homework? I was able to do it last minute.

Nearing my final two semester of German, it became obvious the courses wouldn’t last. Not only were a bunch of the students (including me) graduating, but the course also lacked interest. It was precarious- I had to take my last two semesters of German at a different college because they didn’t offer the courses at my college.

Why I maintain my foreign language skills

Foreign language is another creative outlet. It helps expand your perspective and your mind in a different aspect. You might also take on some of the cultural norms of the country which the language is native to. My reasons aren’t the same as your reasons to learn a foreign language.

I continue to maintain my German and Swedish foreign language skills because I think it’s cool and useful to know a foreign language. Remember when I mentioned that I’d put Swedish on the backburner for awhile? I picked that up again recently and turns out since German and Swedish are related (Germanic languages), I was able to quickly re-acquire my Swedish skills once again.

Additionally, I have an actual use for these languages besides occasionally inconveniencing people. German remains useful because I travel and communicate to people in Germany and Switzerland regularly. Swedish became even more useful with a long-term project of mine having evolved from the originally purpose. Using a translator or technology intermediary is more inconvenient if you’re communicating with a local on a regular basis.

How I maintain my foreign language skills

This blog post is getting a bit too long- we’ll talk about that another time.

Best,
Kathryn