How a naive hobby became an asset!

Let’s take an imaginary voyage to the past in a small city in the center of Mexico during the decade of the 60’s. I am the younger of two brothers and three sisters. My dad was a lawyer. My mom was a teacher. My dad loved classical music and European arts. He was caring and loving towards me. My mom expressed to us her love and affection through cooking.

My brothers and sisters LOVED listening, over and over, to The Beatles’ songs! They had all their recordings! Magical Mystery Tour, Abbey Road, The White Album, Sargent Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band… you name it! So my childhood was a lovely time immersed in music between Beethoven and The Beatles.

I learned how to speak each of the words of all those Beatles tunes, how to write them, as well as a basic understanding of their meaning. It was SO thrilling! I figured out how to expand my mind and my basic vocabulary by learning, by heart, other words which I picked randomly out of a dictionary.

I was an 8-year-old boy. At the time I didn’t know that I was building up a VALUABLE ASSET as I was singing and repeating the lyrics the best I could!

I had a few “formal” so to speak English language assignments and workshops. I had an advantage over my classmates. I had a HUGE vocabulary, correct spelling and a very acceptable pronunciation. Needless to say I had the best grades.

When I started to study my Bachelor (Engineering in Computer Science) I had, yet, another advantage, before the weekend all my classmates went to the School’s Library to collect the books in Spanish. I did not. Why? Because the ORIGINAL ONES, in English, were not in demand. I was the only weirdo to take them out to study!

The years went by and a coworker lent me the movie Wonder Woman, and for whatever reason I wasn't able to activate the Spanish subtitles. So I had to watch the entire movie without the Spanish subtitles. And guess what? I realized I did not need them in order to enjoy the whole movie! That was a REAL breakthrough in my life. I was amazed at how much I had learned over the years!

BUT… there’s a “but” when all seems cool, right? From that little kiddo singing to Beatles’ songs to an adult watching Wonder Woman there was a LONG journey of 44 years! Of course I wouldn’t encourage you to follow my steps! Take the shorter way for God’s sake.

Beatles’ lyrics, for me, are more than just pretty songs, which they are indeed. Some of them convey a meaning that needs to be lived in order to unfold the secret message, hidden subtlety under the soul of the original language. It took me this many years to grow into my favorite Beatles song for this reason!

In learning a new language it is not just to know how to pronounce a handful of words and how to write them flawlessly… it’s a way in which one can stretch one’s abilities!

Let’s get started... shall we?