Commencement Address by John Beyrle
#1. Stay focused. My high school German teacher Mr. Anderson taught me that learning a language is not a hobby—it’s a discipline. Too often when Americans study languages they take two years of Spanish, and then maybe another couple of years of French, and end up with no real facility at all. Don’t dabble in languages. Hone in on the one or two that you’re drawn to, and make its mastery a lifelong obsession.
#2. Go away! When I was a student in Ann Arbor, there was a travel agency with a wonderful sign hanging outside its door. The sign said “Please Go Away.” That’s rule number two. When you are looking at options for study abroad, try to go far, far away, until you are immersed in the language and the culture and you spend days without speaking or hopefully even hearing or seeing English. That means that if you can, you should choose smaller towns and cities to study in and visit. Avoid Paris—discover Nantes. Spend less time in Moscow, and more in Yaroslavl, or Irkutsk.
Rule #3. Rediscover the radio. Everyone learns languages in a different way, but if you want to be able to communicate, the most important input to learning is what you hear. It is now a simple matter to stream the Russian or Farsi or Mandarin equivalent of NPR or the BBC on your smartphone, and your earbuds insulate you from outside distraction. The more you listen, the more you learn, and of course what you are hearing is the best educated native diction you can find.
#4. Watch your language! As all instructors know, after a certain level of proficiency is reached (or sometimes even before), the student’s temptation to try out a few colorful off-color phrases can be irresistible. Resist. As Genevra Gerhart wrote in her classic work The Russian’s World, swearing in a foreign language is like shooting a gun without knowing where the bullets come out.
#5. Find a practical outlet. Learning a language is a great joy in and of itself, and it broadens the mind and opens many new doors, but few of us can live off of that for the rest of our lives. The value knowing a language—not to mention your job prospects—are enhanced greatly when you pair the language with another discipline. Diplomacy, business, economics, education—the choice is yours, but you need to focus on that choice now. And remember—if you choose diplomacy, the State Department gives you points for knowing a language—and extra credit for a hard language—in the competition for entry-level positions.
