Writing and Second Languages

This week's blog post is going to be a bit different than usual, as I just recently returned from a three-week homestay program in Spain and without having had the chance to do much creative writing while away, this week I want to do something topical and discuss how my language learning experiences have affected my writing. I have been learning Spanish since elementary school, but really began taking it seriously starting my freshman year of high school. Though the language I speak at home is English, my entire family knows Spanish and are all at least proficient enough to be able to have a basic conversation. Though I think that learning a second language is very practical, I also just find it to be really fun and a super interesting experience to converse with people in a language that is not your own. From a travel perspective especially, it can open up a lot of really unique opportunities. I would not make the argument that learning a second language is essential to becoming a better storyteller or creative writer, but what is clear to me is that any serious writer who wants to gain a deeper understanding of a culture beyond their own or be able to write with any authority about another country needs to be able to speak the local language. In addition, cultural experiences away from home tend to offer unique glimpses into aspects of the human experience that we become easily used to and ignore at home. My interest in exploring other cultures and gaining firsthand experience before I write about perspectives beyond my own has been shapes by the opportunities that have been only been made available to me via my ability to speak Spanish. The program I recently returned from fully acknowledged this, taking my group of American students exclusively to small towns in rural Spain where nobody spoke English and the rich local culture was only accessible to those that knew how to communicate in the local language. This has started to feel not as connected to improving creative writing skills as I had intended, but I just wanted to make clear that language skills allow for far greater access to other cultures, which in turn produces far better writing for those that chose to write about such cultures. Additionally, there is the whole other benefit that second languages have of changing the way your brain thinks and processes words, but I am not anywhere near clear enough on the science to make any claims regarding that. For anybody interested on the Spanish homestay I participated, it is called LITA, and is a small program based in Austin. I had a great time, and I felt my skills drastically improve. While abroad, I attempted doing some creative writing in Spanish, and though I could practically feel my brain tearing apart at the seams trying to put together remotely well-phrased sentences and dialogue, it was great practice nonetheless. Just with all aspects of the humanities, progress in one area is beneficial at least a bit in all areas.