Speaking in Tongues.

It It was 1988 when Spanish was removed from the college curriculum. I was a freshman then and I thought I enjoyed that privilege of not having to study a foreign tongue. No longer was it deemed necessary to learn the language of our colonizers.

Last July, I accompanied my friend who got an invitation from a call center offering her a job within the company. She graduated from a very good university where she took Spanish as her major. The company was looking for fluent Spanish speakers and there was such a short supply of qualified applicants with this kind of a skill. After half an hour of waiting, she came out and told me that she passed the interview and that the company  pays a premium for foreign language speakers so she’s being offered THRICE the amount that the regular guys were getting.

Who would have thought that a seemingly “archaic” and”irrelevant” language would creep back after 20 years and this time not only to tickle the intellect but to provide a lucrative source of income for those who have mastered it. Trade agreements among nations have eliminated walls and fences so that learning a new language has become more of a need rather than a choice.

Below is a video that would best illustrate this point. Watch and be amazed.

Choosing to abolish the Castillian language may have been good at that time but those who had the power to do so may have been only concerned with the here and now and not the long term effect of their decision. We often make the mistake of making a decision based on its popularity not on their merits. Unfortunately, it’s the next generation that reaps the consequences of our folly.

By the way, my friend turned down the position. A month after, she got a better offer from a bigger and different company.

Until next time, let’s educate our minds.