Languages

Lately I've been trying a couple new ways to learn Arabic because, as great as Rosetta Stone is, I've had a great deal of trouble with the alphabet. With Rosetta Stone, I could understand words and speak them, but seeing them still felt like looking at random symbols. So I got a book at the library to learn the letters and I think it's going pretty well. I also got an audio program from the library that I really like! I know it's the same thing as RS in that I will only be able to recognize the words vocally, but it has a lot of useful words and phrases on it so I am pleased.

Anyway, learning Arabic has, in a very strange and forceful way, made me want to learn many new languages. I often find that when I try to make Arabic sentences in my head and I can't think of a word, I'll substitute a Spanish word for it without thinking. This is SO weird because I never really liked Spanish and honestly I don't know much of it. But now I really want to learn Spanish again! I also want to learn Persian/Farsi, but I think that trying to do that at the same time as Arabic would make my head explode since the alphabets are so similar. I'd also really like to learn French, Russian, and Hindi. I'm also interested in Italian (which would be easy if I somehow managed to learn both French and Spanish first) and Mandarin.

Obviously I can't learn all of them at the same time, but maybe eventually I will learn enough of each of them to at least get by. That would be a major accomplishment! I think knowing more than one language is so important. Of course it's important to be able to communicate with others in their language, but it is also important because it makes your brain grow and think in different ways. I wish I had grown up bilingual, but unfortunately my parents only speak English as well. Either way, I hope to learn several languages (though maybe not all of the ones I listed) over my life.