Accents

            I have had a theory for a while. Maybe it requires a little more research than I have done but, as an English Major, I think it is a logical thing to question.

            Have you ever noticed how, in movies, there is a character who is “obviously” American by their American accent, but later in the story they turn out to be, say, a Russian spy? When the protagonist makes this discovery, the spy removes all pretenses and reverts back to speaking English with a Russian accent.

            My question is: if this spy went through all the education and possible speech therapy needed to speak English without a hint of their Russian accent, basically improving their English skills, why would they revert back to their earlier English skills as if they never undertook the endeavor of eliminating their accent?

            Here’s my reasoning. When I learned Spanish in high school, I most definitely had an accent and I’m sure I still do whenever I try to speak Spanish. If I took more classes and spent all the hours necessary to improve my skills and eliminate my American accent, then I would speak the most improved version I learned every time. If someone found out I was really an American, other than by my obvious American looks, would I really keep speaking Spanish but revert back to the earlier version I spoke with the American accent? I would know the correct way of pronouncing the phrase “Hablo espanol,” but, instead, would say, “Yow a-blow es-pan-yol.” I find it hard to believe that I would ignore the skills I accumulated in Advanced Spanish and revert back to my Elementary Spanish skills.

            In addition, I spoke about this with another English Major friend of mine, who studied abroad in Spain and is very much more advanced in learning and speaking a foreign language than I am. He said he could totally see my point, followed by a very interesting discussion on the topic. Can you say, “English nerds”?

            Different languages contain different phonetic sounds. For example, some languages do not contain the “th” sound, which is common in the English language, and speakers of other languages, who have not learned and mastered the pronunciation of that sound, may compensate with the “z” or “s” sounds. “Ze sought of valking in ze dark frightens me.” That is a very rough and basic example.

            It may involve more research but, to us, it really does not make sense, realistically, for someone to revert back to their earlier stages of linguistic development. Granted, we are talking about movies here. It is all done for effect and accuracy usually has nothing to do with entertainment. However, although this idea intrigues me, it bothers me and, as the title of this blog states, I am strange and I just had to write something about it.

Finding Your Gifts

So I am going to start looking for a job this week. I feel more motivated now than I did before. I think a big reason I’ve been putting off looking for a job is because I’m still pretty concerned with next year. I had come to a decision by the time graduation came around: go home for a year for a break, spend time with friends and family, and then go teach English in China for a year.

By the time I had gotten into college, I had figured out that teaching is not my gift. I may not have had formal experience teaching in a classroom setting, but I had lots of opportunities to teach when I was in high school. For example, when I was a leader in Bible Club during senior year of high school, I came up with some lessons that I was really passionate about and excited to share. But when it came time to actually deliver it, I realized how much I lack that connection and the ability to bring about interaction or real interest. I would love to be good at it, but through that and other experiences, I have come to find that I lack the ability to facilitate critical thinking. Teaching for real terrifies me because, to me, it’s like having to come up with a speech every day. I can do a speech if I prepare and work myself up to it, but every day? I would definitely prefer to write.

So I was able to go to China once and I loved it. I wanted to go back and I think I would still like to for a while someday. I figured that teaching would be the way to get me there and if I was in a place I wanted to be then maybe I could get used to teaching. Maybe if I tried it in the formal setting I would be surprised. But I’ve still been very hesitant despite my efforts to like the idea of teaching and the realization was refreshed for me in Puerto Rico. I was in a situation where I was doing Devo time with a girl and I was trying really hard, but I just lacked that ability to encourage much conversation. When I had a friend help me I saw that she totally had the gift for it. She said things to the girl that I never would have thought to ask and the girl really came out of her shell and lit up. Darn. I really wish I could do that. I think I can if I’m just casually talking to a person about themselves or sharing from my own life, but not when I’m under the pressure of trying to officially teach…on purpose.

I’ve been told by many, “Well, teaching is just the way of getting you over there. There are lots of other things you can be doing while you’re there. Just do it.” But the way I see it is….being a teacher is like being a musician. A musician can enjoy the rewards of the that lifestyle, but they can only experience it if they are good with the basic talent of music in the first place, which earns them the fruit of that lifestyle. They need to actually be good at music (real musicians actually do their own music and do it well), putting in the hard hours of work writing and producing it, studio time recording it, and the business issues the come along with it. I think a person really needs to be good at something to experience the fruit of the work. Same with being a teacher. I am not going to be effective if I am not good at it. If I go there to teach but I’m not good at it then what the heck am I doing? Overall, I'm not feeling right about it and I am leaning more towards doing something else.

God has gifted us all in different ways, so why should we waste our time running after something He has not purposed us to do? We will only be fulfilled in pursuing the desires He has given us, not to be mistaken with pursuing our own selfish desires. If I ask Him to give me the right desires, then I’m going to love and pursue what He wants. I can’t fit a square peg into a round hole and even if I fiddled with the square and made it small enough to fit into the hole, it would still not be the right shape. I’m thinking I need to stop trying to make myself be good at the job of teaching when I’ve had plenty of opportunities to know that it’s not for me to pursue. I believe that a person finds out what their gifts are by trying things out and finding what works and what does not.

If I can, I like to teach through personal conversation and writing. More than teach really, I guess I just like to be there for people and express things that I have learned so that maybe I can bless someone else in the same ways that I have been blessed by others. I know how much it means to have someone there for you, to have a mentor, to read words that someone wrote that just impact you to the core of your being. Words that change you. I just love words and I want to reach people with them.