Chapter 2
This past week has been probably one of the most unexpectedly tiring weeks of my life so far. And somehow I have learned more in one week staying alone at my host house waiting for school to start than I have in my three years of reading pamphlets and papers and booklets on life in Costa Rica. I was prepared for the learning curve, but I didn’t expect it to be nearly this steep. One of my biggest realizations so far has been one that, much like the concept of infinity or how we can ever know what another person sees, is impossible to grasp. Growing up speaking English means that every small idiom or formation of words has been etched into my brain since I could hear, the same is true for anyone who communicates with others. The other day I was watching Gilmore Girls again but with Spanish subtitles and I realized that some of the most common phrases, most simple combinations or words to me, were being translated to a single word in Spanish or about grouping of words that to me had virtually nothing to do with the English ones. I’m not talking about phrases like “it’s raining cats and dogs” which I’m sure Ticos have their own expressions for, but phrases like “go on”. In English this would mean something like continue but in Spanish one would say “sigue” which directly translates to follow. In English on is one of those words that can be used in multiple ways, technically its a homonym which can get very confusing when translating into another language. I know I’m kind of going out on a limb but stick with me for a moment. For example, on could be used when talking about a light, “the light is on” or it could be used in context to placement, “the pen is on the desk.” In Spanish you would say the light has been lit or in turned on. But when speaking about the placement of said pen one would use sobre which also means about. This mixture of homonyms and shared meanings spanning across languages can get confusing, fast. In reality what I am trying to say here makes no sense. There is no good way to learn a new language without forgetting the rules to your first language which I think was my point all along.
The easiest way to visualize language like this for me is like the settings app in my phone. This week I bought a cell plan for Costa Rica, it came in the form of an electronic sim card, so now I have two. One for the US and one for CR. Right now my US one is turned off, and the Costa Rican one is on. As for the metaphor, my English is working it’s way to being “off” as I learn more Spanish. To bring the whole metaphor and language realization together, learning a new language not only requires knowing the words but knowing how to stop translating and instead think in the new language the way people who were born speaking it think.
To finish up this rambling post I’ll say in conclusion that the best way to learn a language is full immersion, but full immersion is hard, really hard.
Clouds over La Carpintera.
One of the many mountains in and around Tres Rios.
One of my host mom’s sister’s puppies.