"Languages I Want to Speak" by nomorewars

I chose Italian as the main language that I wish to speak for the simple fact that I have Italian blood flowing through my veins. My family comes from a small, mountainous village in Abruzzo, Italy called Caramanico Terme. Being that I still have family in said area, I want to learn more of the Italian language so I won’t be in need of a translator when speaking with my family.
I am also thinking about retiring in Italy one day. In order to conduct my day-to-day activities, I will need to know how to read, write, & speak Italian. I'm getting there.

Not only do I have Italian blood flowing through my veins, but I also have French-Canadian. My mother's side of the family hails from the countryside of Colchester County Nova Scotia. Very few of my relatives who still reside in the area speak English. As such, I would like for nothing more than to increase my knowledge of the French language so that communication between me & my family can be possible.

Furthermore, Joual-the French dialect of the working-class people of Montreal, Canada-was widely spoken in my hometown of Lowell, Massachusetts while I was growing up. The vast majority of the French that I know today (which is mostly Joual) was learned on the city streets of Lowell.

French is also widely spoken by the international community. I believe by learning the language better I will be able to communicate effectively with people from all around the world.

No other language on this Earth has invoked more of a personal desire to learn than Farsi. For as long as I can remember I have been an admirer of Iran, her people, culture, & history. I recently purchased the Rosetta Stone Farsi course, so I am finally on my way to learning the language. Houston has a decent size community of Iranians & Afghans, so I will be able to practice the language with natural speakers as well. I’m so excited.

My ability to speak the German language occurred by pure accident. During my tenure in the U.S. Army, I lived in Germany for a little over two years. It’s rather shameful that I never took the initiative to enroll in a course during my time in Rheinland-Pfalz. It wasn’t because I was apathetic or uninterested as this could not be any further from the truth. I loved Germany & her people, but I never had the time to do much. The U.S. Army owned me. Luckily for me, however, I met some great friends who assisted me in my quest to learn German. Combing their help with my constant travels around the country, I learned to speak the German language in no time. Although it has been eight years since I left Germany, I still maintain proficiency in the language through my job.

Although my wife is Mexican-American, & I continue to learn more & more of the Spanish language through my daily interactions with her & her family, my ability to speak Spanish is attributed to, again, having grown up in the City of Lowell, Massachusetts. Lowell has an enormous Puerto Rican (as well as Dominican & Colombian) population. Through my dealings with my friends of Puerto Rican ancestry, I learned how to speak Spanish very quickly. I thank my wife for teaching me how to read & write Spanish. She is still helping me to differentiate between Puerto Rican & Mexican idioms, slang, & pronunciation.

As a student of Brazilian jiu jitsu, I’ve been wanting to learn how to speak Portuguese so I can better understand my instructors, other students who have traveled to Brazil (& learned Portuguese), & because I would like to travel to Angola & the Azores Islands (as well as Portugal) some day.

One of the most unforgettable moments in my life was when I first step foot in Serbia (Yugoslavia back then). From the moment I began my journey through Kosovo (which was still apart of Serbia), I fell in love with Serbian people, their customs & traditions, history, & culture. Even though I wasn’t welcomed with open arms, which I understood (as I was there as a member of NATO), I was able to eventually strike a cord with much of the Serbian populace that I was assigned to protect.

Even though I was a representative of the organization that pretty much turn their world upside down, I was welcomed into many of their homes & treated as a son & brother.

At the end of my deployment to Kosovo, I had become very proficient in the Cyrillic alphabet & the Serbian language. Thankfully, through my job I am afforded the pleasure of interacting with a Serbian nurse, who has shown such a willingness to keep my skills sharp.

I am an avid practitioner of both Brazilian Jiu Jitsu & Judo, both of which were created by the Japanese. My love for Judo, especially, opened the doors for me to Japanese culture, history, & traditions.