The Gift Of Languages

I am severely lacking when it comes to linguistics. I failed French, Spanish and German in school. I ran out of languages to fail at that point since the schools had not yet added the variety of languages available to today's students.

I don't really know what it was about foreign languages that stumped me. I simply couldn't get them no matter how much I studied. I suppose I just am not gifted when it comes to foreign languages.

I excelled in English, though. I also flew through Koine Greek, but that's another story entirely.

I didn't even realize how much of a passion I had for English until my college advisor told me I had taken enough English/Writing courses to complete my Minor in English. I hadn't taken them for any particular reason; just because I enjoyed them and used my electives to take English courses. I immediately declared an English Minor and my advisor turned in the appropriate paperwork to mark my minor complete.

My boys did not inherit my language deficiencies. Both of them easily cruised through advanced levels of both high school and college Spanish. Joseph developed such a fluency that he was designated as a Spanish-speaking teller, and then teller supervisor, at the bank where he worked after graduating from college. Many of the bank's Spanish-speaking customers commented that he spoke Spanish as if it was his native tongue.

Matthew, while not as comfortable as his brother in foreign languages, also developed a level of fluency that put me to shame.

I could never even pass the most rudimentary level of a foreign language and here my sons were flying through advanced courses in conversation and literature.

They excelled where I failed.

For some reason, my brain simply couldn't grasp the sounds and inflections of any of the three languages I so spectacularly failed. They just sounded like gibberish. I couldn't even understand people who spoke heavily-accented English. It's as if they were just making up sounds that had no structure or cohesion.

My language failures have become even worse as my hearing suffers from the effects of age and abuse. I am often forced to turn on the closed-captions on television when someone with an accent is being featured. The church we used to attend had a large Spanish ministry. I often found myself standing there feeling foolish as I habitually misunderstood our Spanish-speaking members as they spoke to me (in English, no less)! I did better with our Deaf members because I had managed to learn at least a modicum of American Sign Language, and the Deaf could figure out what I meant even when I botched it up.

But when it comes to spoken langues - I am lost.

I have resigned myself to the fact that my foreign language struggles dating back to seventh grade French class are destined to only get worse in the future.

I'm just not gifted when it comes to languages...