The End of the End of the World

A speech read at the ceremony of induction into the French and Spanish national honor societies, at Roselle Park High School, New Jersey. 

November 6, 2017

 The End of the End of the World

We are here to celebrate the achievements of a group of students who are aware of how important it is to learn and to be fluent in more than one language. 

To use a popular saying, I’m here to preach to the converted.

But it doesn’t mean that the converted would not benefit from the advice given by someone who happens to have traveled for a longer time the road they have taken.

If I have to give you a summary of what I want to say tonight, it would take just three short sentences: cherish your languages, stay on your ground and enjoy the ride.

As a languages professor, the most common regret I have heard from adults and middle aged people is the fact of having lost their fluency in a second language they learned when they were young. For lack of regular practice and exposure to the language, they have lost what they had conquered.

Cherish your languages. They are like your dreams; no one wants to reach the end of his or her life having given up his or her dreams.

Languages are like living creatures. They need love and attention. They need nurturing and regular care. And no one but each one of you is going to be in charge of that care.

Never neglect your second language or your third one. Improve it constantly. Read it all the time. It is a pleasure to open a book and read without having to think consciously in what language it is written.

Wolfgang Goethe, a German writer, used to say that people don’t understand their own language until they have learned another language.

I’m convinced that you have experienced the joyful discoveries that come with the learning of a second language. I have no need to remind you that being bilingual allow you to have a richer and more meaningful life, and a better understanding about yourselves and about the world.

A person who moves beyond the language in which he or she is more fluent, is also a person with empathy, with respect for the others, and someone who understand that Truth is not the property of a particular person, a group, or a specific nation.

But there are some dark forces interested in making you forget that. They want you ignorant, they want you docile, obedient to the orders of consumerism and blind fanaticism. That’s why you have to stay on your on ground.

Perhaps you recall the interesting novel, 1984, by the British Writer George Orwell. Perhaps you read it and did not enjoy it, because it was a mandatory reading. Many years ago, censors discovered that the best way to suppress the effect of a book is not by prohibition –which inspires curiosity–, but by making its reading mandatory.

George Orwell’s novel teaches us many things; among them, than one effective way to deprive people from their freedom is by reducing their vocabulary, by depriving them of their capacity to express themselves with words.

By learning other languages we expand our horizon, our understanding, and we appreciate better the value of our life. By learning other languages we conquer our dignity and our freedom.

Another British writer, G. K. Chesterton reminds us that life is and adventure, that life is a romance. And we, the lovers of romance languages, must not forget that.

It doesn’t matter if, compared to other historical moments, we live in better or worse times. The point is that the time in which we are alive is the most important of all times.

Each one of us is defending the kingdom of our dignity and our freedom. Our enemies are the forces that alienate us, that rob us of our capacity to think, to make choices, to be in charge of our lives.

Our languages will help us to defend and stand on our ground.

I have briefly made the case for two of my three messages: cherish your languages, and stand on your own ground.

I just want to finish by reminding you something that young people usually find difficult to grasp.

Enjoy the ride, even the hard times.

Be adventurous in the pursuit of knowledge.

Cultivate yourselves.

Make the most of your capacities and potentials.

Make sure that reading and writing are regular activities in your daily lives.

And, the most important thing, don’t be discouraged by adversities. The adventure wouldn’t be as exciting without obstacles, challenges and partial defeats.

Sometimes you might find yourselves in situations that look like the end of the world. But time will allow you to witness the end of the end of the world.