I’ve often opined that being surrounded by geniuses tends to take one down a notch. I’ve spent my life in such situations — three brilliant sisters, two incredible brothers; high school surrounded by incredibly smart people. Then I join the Air Force, and because I tested well enough, I get told that I can “learn a language” — even though I was never inclined to learn one up to then.
But hey, even joining the Air Force was a bit of a whim. I’ve mentioned here before that the combination of being just the third name away from my best friend in high school alphabetically, a recruiter who just happened to be running through the “f”s from my graduating class, and having nothing else in mind is probably what put me in that situation.
Knowing what I know now? I wouldn’t trade it for anything as far as a career. But I also know well enough (irony of ironies — the DoD actually paid for a lug like me to get a Master’s degree in Teaching Foreign Languages), I understand better the role of motivation in learning any language, and so the number one thing I would do if given the chance again is set my head straight when it came to actually doing the challenging work of learning a foreign language the first time. I spent pretty much the entire year of 1982 learning Chinese Mandarin, and I was a real piece of work back then. Despite some rough patches, I was never in danger of not making it through the course, but I could’ve done so much better if I’d tried. But hey, what does any 19 year-old really know.
In any case, even I’d worked my butt off, there were no guarantees I’d have done much better. I can honestly say now though that, after several more classes and a long career of at least paying attention in some respects, you could drop me in China for a couple of months and I’d be a fully-functioning human being in no time. I mean, as it is, and rusty as I am, I could still hang with basic survival skills (I speak it with strangers when I can), so a bit of immersion would probably do me wonders. Sadly, and we all know this, China isn’t quite the top option it was, say, 4 years ago. Sure, they’re out of their COVID funk, but their history with it has kind of demonstrated that it’s not a sure thing going in whether one will be able to come out quite so easily. I had a friend (an American) who lived there actually die a couple of years ago (not COVID as far as I know).
Still, I love the country. Can’t stand the government, but love the country, and love a lot of its people. China’s not like Korea though. More arrogance. More reserved and aloof. A bit more rude — less inclined to be polite to foreigners. Kind of like Americans, I guess. But still, an absolutely stunning place with a fantastic culture and some absolutely wonderful people. In another time, I’d gladly go as often as I can. There’s even a ferry between Inch’eon and Qingdao (although I’m sure the pandemic has kept it closed), plus a flight over there is just pretty much up and down (just thinking of it now makes me dream of going again someday).
Sadly, I’m not so encouraged by my Korean. I know from experience. I’ve lived here well over a third of my life — and longer than in any other place I’ve ever lived, including my hometown — and my Korean is just passable. It goes back to that motivation again. As long as I’m around English-speakers, I’m lazy with it. When I’m out on the bike, I use it a lot more. I suppose, much like with my Chinese — drop me somewhere random in the middle of the country and I’d come around.
As it is though, I’m still surrounded by brilliant people, most of whom put me to shame in both Korean and Chinese. But I’m certainly the richer for it. Everyone should learn a foreign language (or two, or three, or four). It’s not such an outlandish idea really. It might be hard (especially at first), but only sometimes…