by Alin
“German is my mother tongue and as such more natural to me, but I consider Czech much more affectionate, which is why your letter removes several uncertainties; I see you more clearly, the movements of your body, your hands, so quick, so resolute, it’s almost like a meeting.”
– Franz Kafka, Letters to Milena
Despite being born and having lived in Prague most of his life, almost all of Franz Kafka’s works were exclusively written in German. Yet he found Czech to be the language that touched his soul the most and invoked the feeling of closeness. To Kafka, it was the language that was more genuine.
Any multilingual person can relate to this feeling that Kafka had. Although many of us may have complex feelings regarding our native language now, whether it’s because of how hard it is or how we’ve grown apart from it, we can’t deny that reading, hearing, or writing in our native language makes us feel the most. Although there is an option to always write an English translation, we don’t want to spend half of our time translating our hearts.
If you speak one language, this article is a sign to you that you should learn another. If you already speak more than one, then why not add another into your list?
To Learn A Language is To Be Reborn Elsewhere.
Have you ever been curious how different languages view the same subjects?
In French, the saying “avoir une peur bleue” or “to have blue fear” means to be extremely scared, while a saying about the same color in Russian, “быть голубым” or “to be light blue” means to be homosexual. And of course, in English, to be blue means to be sad.
Although they are all talking about the color blue, all of them have widely different meanings, stemming from negative emotions to one being homosexual. The different meanings can influence you to view the world differently, whether it is by colors, structure, or time.
“A different language is a different vision of life.” — Federico Fellini.
And the quote is absolutely true. When we use a language, we also weave its culture into our expressions. Thus, our perspectives of the world changes and you’d begin to make more ‘unusual’ comparisons between subjects.
To Learn A Language is To Enjoy The Journey
When learning a new language, we need to practice writing in that language too. This forces us to get out of our comfort zone and try something new – something that might inspire your greatest work. You’re forced to write, but it’s different, it’s writing in a completely foreign language. Straying away from the regular schedule and trying something new may also help you overcome your writer’s block.
It helps you understand the atmosphere of the place as well, especially when you’re writing a story that takes place in another country. For instance, idioms are based of folktales and everyday lifestyles. Learning about the stories behind the idioms will shape how you view the average day-to-day routine of the people in the country. Especially during the old, historical times as that was when the majority of idioms were developed.
You can also insert words from different languages into your writing. Similar to Dostoevsky’s novel, Crime and Punishment, despite the characters being native Russian, some speak words of French in between sentences.
Once you’ve mastered the language, you can also try translating English texts into that target language. It’s another exercise that can be used to improve your grammar skills and bring out your creative juices.
To Learn a Language is To Find Yourself Again
When learning the grammatical logistics of another language, you’re also relearning the grammar rules for English too. You’ll find yourself comparing the constructions of the target language to English. Although I’m not a native English speaker, it’s a language that I’m very familiar with. Yet when it comes to taking an English grammar test, I struggle, mostly because I don’t remember the intricacies of the rules – what ‘adverbs’ or ‘indirect speech’ truly mean. It just comes naturally to me.
Now that I’m learning other languages (French and Russian), I am reminded of these terms. Thus, technically, I am learning two languages while reviewing one that I’m TOO familiar with at the same time!
Not to mention, you might find new literary devices hidden in other languages. For instance, Russian has a complex grammatical case system, which allows it to have unique sentence structures. You can create a sentence that starts with the verb followed by the subject and object or vice versa, and it would still make sense. That’s because the cases alter the way a word is spelled and pronounced in different contexts, so the sentence would still have the same meaning to switch all the words around. All thanks to the changing endings of the words. That’s why Russian literature and poetry are regarded as majestically beautiful.
To Learn a Language…
Of course, it’s hard to learn a language, but I promise it is definitely worth it. You bring out your hidden creative side that only exists in that writing script. A new literary field will also be accessible to you now – translating, which might help you land a job, while maintaining your love for writing.
Just imagine reading your favorite books in their original language, experiencing the raw emotions that you may have missed through translation. Although it would take a lot of effort, in the end, it will all be worth it.
Citations
Cranford, Andie R. “Does Learning a New Language Help Your Creative Writing?” Medium, 15 Aug. 2023, medium.com/@andrea_cranford/does-learning-a-new-language-helps-your-creative-writing-b113e98ad961.
Price, Grant. “How Learning a Foreign Language Can Make You a Better Author.” Medium, 13 Dec. 2021, grant-rhys-price.medium.com/how-learning-a-foreign-language-can-make-you-a-better-author-19019d821a79.
Stein, Rob. “Learning a Foreign Language Yields Better Writing | the Writing Cooperative.” Medium, 30 Mar. 2022, writingcooperative.com/how-learning-a-foreign-language-translates-to-better-writing-ee2b1e67d4ba.
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