Most of the time, I like to refer to myself as
a “devout language major”. To most people, this concept may not seem logical at
all—how do you address a student as a “devout” student? Isn’t the word “devout”
practiced mostly in religion? As weird as the notion may appear, for me, I do
have a strong and personal sense towards languages and what they represent in
the course of personal improvement as well as human identity.
From the perspective of an individual, I
trust that languages work with a soul embedded by the people who speak it.
Languages have life, and are the passive inspiration for a lot of people. All
European tongues have a sense of vitality and fresh character that sustain
through its culture; the Spaniards have a down-to-earth, rough beauty in their
pronunciations while the Italians bear a lively kind of sexiness in their
interpretation of the spoken Italian language. On a personal level, I trust
that the Spanish language, with its enlightening spirit, has transformed me
throughout the years. Spanish has taught me to change myself into a less
pessimistic girl, and to feel delighted-- grateful for all the smallest good
things in life. As absurd as it may sound, Spanish is a source of enlightenment
for me, and throughout the years I have not only mastered it but also I have
strived to have its beauty known and understood by more Taiwanese.
In addition, languages reach out to an
entire race and record various details of a race’s essence. Many terms of
culture, history, religion, and the arts are registered, created, and invented under
language systems, and from the change of languages we witness how humans evolve
throughout the centuries. Even under a same spoken language where people of
distinct countries can understand each other, languages record different meaning
for each of these nations, and translate the spirit of those nations in a
different manner, using the same lexicon. Languages are the best chameleons in
the world, forever changing, but forever being the most basic asset of human
development. I trust that languages have the ultimate power for transforming
this world, just like a religion, and as a language-aficionado and a fighter
for language rights, I proudly address myself as a “devout language major”.
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