The greatest talent I never had
Tuesday, April 01, 2008
Is there one talent out there that you'd like to have but don't?
One thing you wish you could do really well but never had the time or ability to learn?
For me, that talent would be knowing languages well - how to speak, understand, write, and read them. I have at different times studied French, Spanish, and Latin, and I made one abortive attempt to learn Greek. And the thing is, I love these languages. Every one of them! But I am not proficient, let alone fluent, in any of them.
A big part of me wants to blame my backwoods Arkansas upbringing on this lack. "If only I had grown up in a city," I sometimes think, "I would know how to order coffee in Quechua and could appreciate soccer in a dozen European tongues!" But I know this isn't fair to my background, for a couple of different reasons. For one, I could have started learning Spanish at the age of 12 and chose not to. And I could have started learning Greek at 22 and dropped out. Plus, my more sophisticated city-dwelling friends don't seem to be walking around chatting on their cellphones in Swahili. So I think part of it is a personal failure, while the other is simply the product of growing up in a larger American culture that doesn't value foreign language study much (although I hope that is changing).
I finally realized that most real talent (except perhaps for true child prodigies) comes only after years and years of practice. And now, relatively late in my education, I am trying to gain some proficiency in languages for the purpose of both study and ministry. But it's hard. And if I had formed the habits of such study earlier in life, I would reap greater benefits now.
How about you? Any talents you wish you had but don't? Any interesting stories of opportunities squandered or opportunities redeemed?
Oh, and I also wish I could play the banjo.
One thing you wish you could do really well but never had the time or ability to learn?
For me, that talent would be knowing languages well - how to speak, understand, write, and read them. I have at different times studied French, Spanish, and Latin, and I made one abortive attempt to learn Greek. And the thing is, I love these languages. Every one of them! But I am not proficient, let alone fluent, in any of them.
A big part of me wants to blame my backwoods Arkansas upbringing on this lack. "If only I had grown up in a city," I sometimes think, "I would know how to order coffee in Quechua and could appreciate soccer in a dozen European tongues!" But I know this isn't fair to my background, for a couple of different reasons. For one, I could have started learning Spanish at the age of 12 and chose not to. And I could have started learning Greek at 22 and dropped out. Plus, my more sophisticated city-dwelling friends don't seem to be walking around chatting on their cellphones in Swahili. So I think part of it is a personal failure, while the other is simply the product of growing up in a larger American culture that doesn't value foreign language study much (although I hope that is changing).
I finally realized that most real talent (except perhaps for true child prodigies) comes only after years and years of practice. And now, relatively late in my education, I am trying to gain some proficiency in languages for the purpose of both study and ministry. But it's hard. And if I had formed the habits of such study earlier in life, I would reap greater benefits now.
How about you? Any talents you wish you had but don't? Any interesting stories of opportunities squandered or opportunities redeemed?
Oh, and I also wish I could play the banjo.
Labels: Linguistics/Language, Virtue Formation
posted by Andrew C. Thompson at 10:14 AM
4 Comments:
I completely feel your pain when it comes to languages. I've taken Greek for the last 2 years but still way behind those who have taken it since college. And now I have a great desire to learn Spanish (and a great need) and am far over my head. Why is it that we seem to be so far behind? However, while it may be hard to learn a language now it is still possible..there is still time!
For me, it would definitely be basketball. I am just not good at basketball, and I have always thought it would be cool to be good enough to be able to join in on a pickup game with confidence...
Man do I feel your pain with the languages. After three years of French 1, I gave up. My greatest talent I never I would be the ability to hear a piece of music and play it on guitar or piano. I love playing guitar but I can't envision how to play a piece of music I hear, it just won't translate from my ears through my brain to my fingers.
Great post.
Mine is the flipside of Rev. J's, in that I wish I had continued to learn to read music. I took years of piano lessons as a kid, but as soon as I learned that I could play by ear, I stopped taking the time to read the music.
I've tried to pick it back up as an adult, but now that Pandora's Box has been opened, I can't stop playing by ear, which obviously limits what I can do musically.
Oh, and don't beat yourself up about the language thing. Mary Elizabeth is working on a childhood development paper that indicates that the ideal brain development for learning languages occurs by age 10. So you are not only fighting the new language, you're also fighting biology.
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