Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be able to communicate with whoever you like without having to worry about whether or not they’ll understand you? Don’t worry babes, so have I.

Languages have always been a fascination of mine. And I have always wanted to be able to create bonds with people withought having to use a lingua-franca, also known as, a general language of communication between people especially those who do not share a similar native language.

The world’s lingua-franca is English and in my honest opinion, I somewhat believe it’s overrated. Not to offend any native English speakers but to me, English has always sounded somewhat bland. Don’t get me wrong, we have the wonderful literary works of William Shakespeare (MacBeth is a personal favourite of mine) or the beautifully melancolic poems Edgar Allan Poe. But there’s just something about English that’s a little off. Because of that, I embarked on a seemly never ending language learning journey of ups and downs.

I drew my inspiration from Shakira. A Colombian singer, performer and philanthropist. She seems to be a total package. And as if that’s not mind blowing, she speaks seven languages. People who speak multiple languages (usually four or more) are referred to as poliglots.

I constantly read about her tiresome journey to being fluent in English and how she’d often walk around with a dictionary and thesaurus to look up new words and write some of her famous songs. All of that touched me and gave me the zeal to embark on a language learning journey of my own. And now, not to toot my own trumpet, I can say that I too can now speak and understand a whole bunch of languages.

The first language I ever put my mind to was Afrikaans. By then I was a shy, little hermit stepping into the murky waters of linguistics. When I started learning it, it was quite easy and I found it quite magical. I like to think of Afrikaans as baby version of Dutch and the half sister of English. Being a daughter language of Dutch, it’s vocabulary is mostly Dutch words, most of which are written differently with Afrikaans spelling rules. It’s also made up of many other native South African, European and Asian languages. Also get this, it names it’s things literally and most English speakers can comprehend it I’ll show you.

The phrase: My pen is in my hand

Can be both in English and Afrikaans and it means the exact same thing! How cool is that? And you know how in English we separate two nouns even when they’re related to the same thing. Like, Chocolate cake it’s a cake and it’s made of chocolate right? Afrikaans usually binds the two together. I find it rather convinient. Cake is koek and chocolate is sjokolade, so chocolate cake will be sjokoladekoek. No wonder most Afrikaans words are so long. That being said, Afrikaans like any other language does have it’s ups and downs, and tricky twists and turns.

When I got the basics of Afrikaans grammar down. I began obtaining vocabulary to build sentences and express more complex ideas and thoughts. I also began learning a few Afrikaans cuss words for fun. Later on I found out that my great grandmother was a boervrou (farmer’s wife) of Dutch ancestry in the early 1900s. I found that hard to believe at first, but now I know where my affinity for the language comes from. I still cannot understand most complex Afrikaans conversations and that’s what keeps me craving for more knowledge.

I later on decided to pick up Spanish and that’s where the magic really began. I’d say I have always been able to speak Spanish. I remember sitting down in front of the telly, eyes glued to the screen and an animated little girl would walk across the screen carrying a bag, a merry little monkey jumping behind her and pink shirt that didn’t fit would say ¡Hola, soy Dora! (Hi I’m Dora!) And break off into a musical rhythm filled dance.

Unknowingly, I was learning Spanish little by little and when I was in my early teens, I’d listen to all of Shakira’s Spanish albums nonstop. That was when my love for her really grew. Knowing Spanish was her native language even made me love her Spanish songs even more. I began teaching myself Spanish using language apps and books from the library in town that was kilometers away. Within a few months I was holding basic conversations with native speakers online. We’d talk about general stuff like the weather, food and each other’s culture. Cuéntanos sobre la cultura de tu país, queremos saber. (tell us about your country’s culture, we want to know.) My online friends would say and I’d go on and on… It was such a fun experience.

Spanish comes from Latin and so does the vocabulary of most English words, so and English speaker could get the gist of written Spanish. Aside from that, Spanish is really expressive. And I love it because of that. Also, Spanish is a gendered language meaning it has grammatical gender. Some words are masculine, others feminine and some neutral. As a queer person, being able to express myself in a language that would describe my thoughts and myself accurately has always been a goal for me and Spanish fits the bill.

Now here is the magic, by learning Spanish I was also passively learning Portuguese, Italian and French. When I took them up individually, understanding grammar rules and building vocabulary was a breeze. Don’t believe me? Let me show you. Here is the word “star”and here is how it’s written in

Spanish: Estrella

Portuguese: Estela

Italian: Estella

French: Étoile

See what I’m talking about? Each respective language has its own distinct phonology, or way of of saying something. But it’s orthography, that is, way of writing and forming words is more or less similar.

Usually, I like to journal my thoughts and feelings in a language that tickles my fancy depending on my mood. Being able to speak and express myself in different ways is something I value greatly. Nelson Mandela once said, “if you speak to a man in a language he understands that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language then it goes to his heart.” This has proved to be true to me on multiple occasions.

I have been greatly inspired by many people, most of them celebrities I’ve never met. How ironic! The likes of Charlize Theron South African actress and Philanthropist who could only speak Afrikaans up until age 17. Enrique Iglesias

With that being said, languages are gateways to a mirad of way in which we can express ourselves. Which is why we often find our personality changing and shifting depending on which language you use. I’ve been feeling a little adventurous lately and I dove into a language completely different to those I know, I cannot wait to see what the story holds…

Learning is a journey and learning languages is a seemly endless quest. You can learn as many languages as you set your mind. Jy hoef nie ‘n moedertaalspreker te wees om effektief te kommunikeer nie. (You don’t have to be a native speaker in order to communicate effectively.)