Down the Rabbit Hole

October 3rd - Native Tongues

30-Day Blogging Challenge
Oct. 3 Prompt:
Do you speak a second language? If so, what inspired you to learn it?
If not, what language are you interested in learning?

Once upon a time I pursued Spanish, in part because I was involved with someone for whom Spanish was a first language. I had visions of conversing in his native tongue, raising bi-lingual children and exploring Mexico independently on my own. Time and reality soured the relationship and any of those bi-product dreams. I still loved the language, the ease of it, the way it rolled off my tongue. I did use it in real world applications and began to understand that, as a second language, Spanish was one of the more important ones to know for the practical purposes of living in a world where Spanish speakers were one of the most rapidly expanding demographic. I can understand a surprising amount of Spanish despite not using or studying it in decades, even more if I'm reading it.

Today I am married to someone who speaks Turkish. It is much more difficult to master and even harder to use in an everyday applicable ways. I wish I had the time to devote to fluency. I wish I knew enough to be more than a clueless eavesdropper on my husband's conversations with friends and family. It is a language that sounds far more foreign than Spanish or French. It is hard to find familiarity which is intimidating for me. Perhaps one day I will have the time to devote to learning, at least a conversation version of my husband's native tongue. In the very least, I'd like to see my daughter develop the interest in learning, if nothing else, to be able to talk with her Grandmother on face time. I think it would be something that would deepen their already strong bond even more.