How I learned a new language?
Language isn’t just a tool of communication, sometimes it can be what makes people friendlier and brings them closer. Perhaps you would understand only if you experience it. Try talking the local language at a new place and you will see the difference.
Eighty percent of vocabulary in Telugu is derived from Sanskrit. If you learn to speak in Telugu, you can speak in any other language with ease. In this article, I will walk you through what gave me an opportunity of learning and how I learned the language.
It took time for me to fit in with everyone, but I eventually started enjoying my time. I experienced instances that made me sad and mentally unstable. There was bullying which everyone has faced atleast once in school, there was politics and there was fighting too. In two years, I learned what I could never have learned staying home where I was loved and pampered. This experience changed me from a very mischievous kid about whom the whole town complained to a silent kid whom people praised. This place was no longer meant for me, and I had to change the school, where my journey to learn a new language began.
I went to Hyderabad to another boarding school named Abhyasa International Residential School which was in another state. I prayed for this school to be better but soon enough I realized it is worse because Telugu was a completely new language and even English was not my forte. I was also accompanied by the son of my dad’s friend who had joined with me. He dropped out of school in a month giving the reason of vomiting blood and not going to sleep at night. The communication gap which people misused to their advantage and the hostel food made it hard for him. Looking at his stress and depression I testified to his bad health as he left the school.
I was also bullied but I was privileged to have some experienced cousins who were from my town in the school who were helpful. People who spoke Telugu still kept it up because I never understood a word except for the curse words. These words are the first that anyone learns when they are learning a new language outside the class. Our class slowly started to split into two groups by language, the Hindi gang, and the Telugu gang. Both had different thoughts and agendas. Communication was an easy solution to come together but they kept speaking Telugu which we did not understand. Everyone learned common things like How are you? (Eela Unnav ra? or Miru eela unnaru?), I am fine (Bāgunnānu), Did you have food? (Annam Tinnara? or annam tinnava?), Yes (Avnu), What are you doing? (Emi Chestunnav), Why? (Enduku), Water (Neeru), etc.
We had a radio system on our campus named ‘Abhyasa Vani’. It was used to make different announcements and to entertain us by playing songs every weekend of different genres and languages. It was fun to listen to songs playing all over the campus. We could also dedicate songs to people. The first thing that I learned in Telugu was a song that I did not understand. We were shown movies on weekends in an open theatre. Only good Telugu and Hindi movies that had morals to teach were played otherwise it was the English movies. Every time a Telugu movie was played people who did not understand Telugu were frustrated and vice-versa. There was television time in the evenings where people often argued for the language of content watched. The argument also resulted in authorities switching off the television or taking control. We sometimes had to adjust but that helped me listen to more of the language. It was astonishing to see everyone come together while there was an Indian team performing in sports on the television.
Listening to various people speak in Telugu and asking the meaning of different words, I started understanding the language a little. It became a routine of listening to people talk in Telugu and decode what they are saying. If we did not understand we would say, “Arthaṁ kālēdu, English lo cheppu ra” and they had to tell that in English. People wanted to get their work done sometimes so they had to convey what they had told earlier.
Once there was a fight between a Hindi guy and the Telugu gang where things got heated. It ended when people gathered around and staff was approaching them. Next day that one guy made a list of all sadistic things he could think of doing and assigned them to each guy in the Telugu gang. They literally got scared and could not complain to anyone because they were all informed of those things that he thought of doing to them. The fight between people went on for a while. Finally, it calmed with people realizing it is not going to work. We had to come together for projects, assignments, sports, and other activities which helped in uniting us. By the end of my first year, I almost started understanding Telugu that was commonly spoken. People who joined with me had mingled and things started settling down. It was a roller coaster ride from start to end.
At the beginning of another year, things were better because now I understood the language, made friends, and knew everything in the school. I started speaking Telugu in bits amid the year. People were shocked, some asked ‘Nīku telugu vaccā? (Do you also know how to speak in Telugu?)’ and I replied (Koncham koncham occhu), others complimented, and some laughed at the accent. I laughed it off too with those people who did not like the accent, but they reminded me of getting better which I did. By the end of my second year, I learned to communicate in a new language though not perfect but enough to convey the message and converse with people.
We started becoming mature and understanding because, in the end, everyone had to depend on others to live and grow. Big events such as the batch naming ceremony and commerce activity where we ran our own company in the ninth grade brought us closer. Everyone had to take part and work. The bonding between everyone increased. As years passed, I got better with the language. When I left school after 6 years, I had a lot to miss because of those wonderful moments we cherished as enemies in the beginning but friends at last and the fun we had achieving laurels for the school. Those days are gone but the memories are in the hearts. Learning a new language not only helped me in making friends but helped me network and communicate better.
Thank you for reading. (Cadivinanduku dhan’yavādalu)
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Peace.
