superpower of choice

when i was younger, i wanted to fly. a few months later, invisibility was the power to lust after. in my early teen years, not wanting to make a sacrifice over superpowers (they are superpowers after all), i cleverly thought that invisible flying would be the way to go.

and since then, i’ve craved my share of super strength, elasticity, teleportation, mind-reading, mind-control, and matrix-esque movements (complete in latex suits).

but the other day, after passing an eastern european man in the hallway, the idea of being instantaneously multilingual was quite tantalizing. what i wouldn’t give to be able to detect a passerby’s native tongue and immediately engage in conversation with no leanings toward the english default.

i always regret not learning another language. i took a year of spanish in high school, which was taught by a lazy-eyed german instructor. (the sidenote doesn’t necessarily seem relevant, but it is important to note i never enrolled in spanish II.) i gave italian some thought when i was in college, but figured why bother when i wasn’t traveling to italy anytime soon.

it wasn’t until i worked at the flagship borders on michigan avenue where one of my managers and another co-worker spoke fluent german that i gave consideration to at least becoming bilingual another thought. i bought books on CD, a german/english dictionary, and a couple workbooks to get me started. i had this hairbrained idea to stay true to my heritage. maybe, i could put the umlaut back in my last name and remove that dreaded “e” that trips everyone up.

and i tried to teach myself german, but admittedly, only half-heartedly. learning another language is simply one of those skills that needs to be done when you first develop the affinitiy for your own tongue, i.e. elementary school or earlier. when your mind is pliable and not bogged down with bills to pay and vacations to plan and dinners to serve and errands to run.

learning another language is now on that list of things to do when there is nothing else on that list of things to do. meaning: sadly, it’ll never get tended to.

27 May 2008