Ashley’s Blog

Ashley07.13.09Print This Page

As a newly adopted member into the Covenant Communications family, I have gotten to see all types of campaigns in motion and have learned from past campaigns as well. I can confirm that Covenant is appropriately named, because be it through print, web, or satirical glare, everyone in this office is an expert at communicating. That works well for me and my communication passions, but there is one small learning limitation of this office, and that is that everyone seems pretty stuck in their English-speaking ways.

A week from today, I will be boarding a plane to Colombia, South America to brush up on some of my other communication skills. Spanish falls into the category of what I call my “mystery passions.” While I am half Colombian, you would guess that neither from my appearance nor ashamedly my one-tense Spanish speaking abilities. And yet, I just can’t shake my compelling desire to speak the language, and so the mystery continues. However, in my humbling efforts to learn Spanish I have managed to calculate a couple of reasons that my love for the language runs so deep:

  • I love mass communication, and big crowds for that matter. Have the ability to talk with another continent of people? Yes, please.
  • If I am speaking Spanish with someone, there is a high probability that they themselves are Hispanic. As a half Colombian, I grant myself authority to vouch for the whole of Hispanics when I say that they are a good time and if you are lacking in Hispanic friends, go make some.
  • When you speak to someone in Spanish in the US who only knows that one language, there is something that comes alive in them. To be understood, to have your culture recognized, and to speak with someone who has found your language valuable enough to invest time in, all of these result in a vigor of conversation that I can appreciate even through my broken Spanish.

Maybe these things tend to blur together with my love for people and for clear communication, but it is nonetheless something to think about next time you reprimand someone for not knowing your language. Maybe they wish they could, maybe they’re trying to salvage their culture, or maybe they are just trying to avoid sounding like a 5 year old, knowing that you may begin to question their intelligence. Colombia, please give me grace, I am really going to try!

Categories: Random Stuff

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