Ta-Nehisi Coates writes eloquently in the Atlantic about violence as a human language and makes an analogy to the helplessness and humiliation he experienced learning French.
Only twice in my life have I felt as lost as I did on that first day at Lemmel: When I moved to New York and when I started studying French. The obvious point is that "not knowing" on the streets carries a kind of consequence which "not knowing" in French class does not. And yet the fear--the darkness--is still powerful. Violence isn't simply physically painful, it is degrading and humiliating. The worst part about getting jumped was my helplessness. This is how I have experienced learning French.
Learning Spanish was not like that for me initially -- only in the end when I realized that the deck was stacked against me did I have that sinking despair. I went into it brightly thinking that it was a field where I could compete, excel, and win. But you can't. Second-language speakers will never be able to hold their own against native speakers. It's a big part of why I fell in love with Esperanto.
In Esperanto, everyone begins from the same point: it isn't anyone's native language. We all meet as equals on a level playing field. And we all come to the language with the shared experience of having learned it as a second language.
Esperanto is better.
- Steven D. Brewer's blog
- Log in to post comments