Ann Karamysh: The Bridge to New Worlds

Ever since I started traveling around Europe with my sister back when I was about 16, aside from England, we didn’t speak the language of the countries we were visiting. We admired the architecture, fashion, and culture, but we were always outsiders, peering into another world that we could not possibly understand without the knowledge of the language. This is why, for as long as I can remember, I have always regarded European countries as somewhat “other-worldly” and there was always a subconscious but distinct divide between Europe and North America in my mind.

I’ll admit, I could have made much more effort towards learning French during this semester in Amiens. I could have hung out exclusively with French students and spoke French to them, sat in cafes day in and day out listening to conversations, and watched French TV every day at home. I didn’t do these things (as much as I could have); however, I did take a French class throughout the semester and practiced my French in daily situations. But, just as I expected, simply being in France for four months has trained my brain to understand French much more than I used to be able to before.

The beautiful, melodic, sophisticated strings of sounds divided up into words, many of which, to my surprise, I realized I already knew. And this opened up a whole other world – a world where these people weren’t just Europeans whom I admired but couldn’t understand. They became people just like me, my family, my friends, my professors – my community.

When I realized all of this I was standing on the platform in Cannes waiting for my train back to Paris, and an elderly woman pointed out to her husband that there was a girl working at the construction site nearby (at least this is what I understood based on context and the words I could pick out!). Understanding their conversation and seeing that they aren’t some mysterious, sophisticated creatures speaking a tongue I’m not familiar, but people just like me made them somehow so… Accessible. I cannot find a better word to describe the way that language seems to bring people onto a common  ground, where they can understand each other and feel at home.

 

Learning other languages opens doors that you may not realize are even there. It is truly like walking over a bridge to a whole other world, and I cannot stress how eye-opening this is. And it can be as simple as helping you get what you need. For example, my sister and I were at a hotel in Italy once and we needed an extra sheet for our bed. We found the maids in the hall, but they clearly didn’t speak any English and no amount of gesturing or synonyms could get our point across to them. Until we said “lenzuolo”. The maids instantly smiled, and handed us the sheet. One word, from a pocket translator.


Ann is a third year Bachelor of Business Administration student studying abroad at France Business
School in Amiens, France.