To me, speaking a second language seems like a superpower. You have this ability that not everyone has, you can communicate with people that others can't communicate with. It's pretty cool.
I've always been envious of my friends who grow up bilingual or trilingual (having lived internationally, the majority of my friends have this superpower). They speak multiple languages better than I ever could if I started now, even if I work for years and years, and they can do it without even trying. I've had to earn the superpower the hard way.
But it's totally worth it. Being able to understand, speak, and even think in Spanish is exhilarating to me. Having conversations in Spanish with native speakers is one of the most rewarding things I've ever done. And I wish that more people could appreciate how worthwhile learning another language can be. My hypothesis is that if everyone in America learned Spanish–and not just what they teach in high school, but actually learned it–they would be much more welcoming to Hispanic immigrants, because they would have something that they worked hard for in common with them. But maybe that's just me. I know that I feel a connection with native Spanish speakers and have a much greater interest in Spanish speaking countries than I did before I was proficient in the language. I felt the same thing when I was learning Malay.
The next language I'm planning on learning is Arabic. I can't wait to get started :)
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