Listening without Translation

In life we are so quick to get what we are trying to say out, that we often forget to listen. It is almost as if we are having a conversation with ourselves and the other person is simply the audience. This week I discovered that it was a lot more than just forgetting to listen to others, we often interrupt, interject, talk over, and at the most extreme times simply walk away when another is talking. I often think about the people in my life that I respect and look up to the most and there is one common similarity in all of them: they listen more than they talk. When they do talk they say something so well thought out that nobody in their right mind would ever consider it word vomit. I'm not perfect at listening, but I do think that I make a conscious effort to do so--- especially while traveling.


Not only is language beautiful, but it also is the heart and soul of a destination. When traveling we often think of the language as a "barrier" and conjure up solutions to how we will "work around it". How do we possibly experience the most in the country, while ignoring this key part of the culture? We find English menus, English-speaking cabbies, McDonald's, English tour books, or mediocrity, English-speaking tour guides. Worst off when traveling out on the streets or buses, we often are talking loudly and aggressively in English, while ignoring the conversations around us. If it is not translatable it becomes mute to us.

Karaoke in Korea, in Korean.

 

For me, language has always been a fascination and passion, although I was never given the gift of it coming easily. I've always had to work very hard to be just about average at it. The awareness of my mediocrity made me study harder, listen better, and shut off the internal English monologue in my head. While living in Spain, I think I first truly started to listen to the language with the goal of understanding vs. translating. Maybe if I turned off the constant goal of translation, I'd finally understand what they were telling me? I started sitting in parks and just listen to the conversations around me (a language stalker without the creepiness of it). I listened to the rhythm and intonation of the language, the body language, the facial expressions. Without the pressure of someone directly talking to me, it allowed me to listen without worry or constraint to a task at hand. My favorite was when I went to the gym and turn on the talk radio while working out. I know that sounds strange and definitely boring, but without the visual cues or facial expressions it made me really listen to the sound.


Through out my time in Spain my language greatly improved. But, honestly, my language probably would have improved regardless of what I did or how much true listening I did. What I think improved more than my language was my understanding of the culture and the personal relationships that language helps build. Throughout my travels in the world, I now make "language stalking" a bit of all my travels. I'll listen on the train or while walking. I'll listen while stretching on the street after a long run. I'll NOT turn on CNN International. After traveling around, I have a few of my favorite languages (based solely on sound and rhythm):


- Portuguese. When people speak Portuguese is sounds like they are singing. It has sounds of Spanish, without the crispness. It sounds romantic like French, without the perfection. I love it and I want to learn it.


- German. Most people wouldn't agree with me on this one, but for me, when I listen to German I feel powerful and immediately want to stay something in German. I find myself walking the streets, trying to sound out the words to myself, because it is so darn fun.


- Basque (Euskara). Basque is a language spoken in Northeastern Spain that is a mystery to most, but a beauty to listen to. It is so fascinating because it truly sounds like nothing else out there. I have not yet been to the Basque region, but I did met some Basque people while in Seville and it made want to go and visit the region badly