English. One language so widely spread. It's the third language with more users globally and is mandatory in lot of countries as a second language at basic education level. A lot of scientific material and global politics are done in English. Sadly the means to achieve and maintain that are questionable, with colonization and imperialism being the most notorious ways, even at this day. We can't take the cultural and historical influence out when talking or studying a language, they're part of a whole and to learn a language is to get an insight into another cultures and another ways of life.
Without overlooking all those aspects and faults that English has we can also talk about the language as a tool to communicate: ideas, dreams, stories, thoughts, discomforts and everything that makes us human and alive. It gives us the wonderful opportunity to interact with people that can be on the other side of the Earth, to know about far away lands and different customs and traditions.
Taking two hours a class, three days a week, at night and having Friday evenings booked for four months seems a bit excessive just to learn how to write better in English, but written words are powerful.
Personally, for me everything started as a chore. At elementary school, with a kind teacher drilling for days the colors and numbers to a group of rowdy, messy six years olds. That trend continued to my preteen years when music was a true incentive to pay at least more attention in class. It wasn't until junior year in high school when I started trying to read stories at the Internet and playing videogames in English that I really took those classes seriously and even started to study on my own.
Now, six years later all that studying payed off at my college courses where a lot of the material available is in English and I didn't struggle to read, just to understand the concepts, I can play videogames and read books that have not been translated yet and even make friends with people in Philippines.
My relationship with English started as a necessity, an imposed obligation from the system that evolved into the ability to resonate and have fun with another humans. Now I take official classes to reach an standard that will help me in my professional career and maybe, in a future, not only read about other cultures but, having a real taste of them, seeing all those places with my own eyes and making more friends.Worthy of sacrificing six hours a week and my Fridays for a few months.
