09/16/2020
Cedric Kasongo
Importance of Learning & Studying Languages
I was born in Democratic Republic of Congo, a country that, alone, has a total of 4 languages. Though I didn’t stay there long enough, there was a way for me to still learn 3 of the 4 languages spoken in Congo. Just a year after I was born, my family and I were pushed out of the Congo and we went seeking refuge in Zambia, just south of Congo. In Zambia, there were diverse groups of people from surrounding countries, such as Rwanda, Burundi, Angola, as well as other Congolese like us. That meant there were about 15 to 20 languages available to learn, just from people that lived in Zambia. After being chased out of Congo by the great war of Africa, we spent 12 years in a refugee camp in Zambia.
I grew up learning different languages based on the languages the other students spoke in class. In school we learned and were required to only speak English in the classroom. However, most of the students in the class spoke Bemba or Nyanja, Zambia’s premier languages, and at the beginning I didn’t know those languages. When the teachers taught in English, they then translated to Bemba or Nyanja and most of the class would understand. So, for the rest of us that didn’t know any of them, we had to learn Bemba or Nyanja, and learn them quicker so we could actually get to learn English, as well as what we were supposed to learn in other subjects.
We played with most of our classmates during break time and I would pay close attention when they spoke Bemba and Nyanja, so I could understand at least a few things the teacher would say. It’s hard to sit in a class where the teacher is speaking in a language you don’t know, but it’s even harder when they translate into a whole different language you don’t know either. If you fast forward 7 years later, I had mastered 9 languages by 7th grade. By that time, I was equipped with Tshiluba, one of my native languages, alongside Lingala and Swahili. I had also learned Kaonde, Nyanja, Bemba, Luvale, Luanda, and English. At that point I felt I could walk into any group of people and start conversing with them.
Two years later, before I left the camp, I found myself in the process of learning Burundi and Rwanda. Two years before we left, we sold our house because we knew we were going to leave soon. So, the people we sold our house to let us share half of the house with them until we left. They were from Rwanda, and they had their friends from Burundi who would come visit, so we often interacted in one way or another. Through all those languages I had learned, when I arrived at Spring Hill I could barely speak French. French was the one language my parents spoke and were fluent in but that they never spoke with us. Yes, I learned some bits of it, but that was nowhere near enough. I opted to take my first French course my junior year after I missed the chance to register for an earlier course. I finally got into the journey and it just turned out to be Mr. Gervase’s first year as a French Professor. I’m not going to lie about the fact that I was warned against taking French with the previous professor. But I was excited.
At first, I wasn’t quite sure of his ability to speak and help me learn French because from my experience it is uncommon to find a guy teaching French. However, fast forward two years later, I have graduated from Spring Hill. I had been in the process of applying for jobs before I came across Airbus. I sent in my application, and I
remember one of the questions they asked was regarding my ability to communicate and connect with people of different backgrounds. My journey and my ability to speak all these languages I can speak allowed me to gain and develop the ability to connect with almost any stranger that I meet. I grew up talking to strangers in their own language, and this taught me how to connect
with people in a way that is not common.
Every single day that I’m walking through the Airbus facilities, I pass a group of two or more people speaking French, at least 5 times a day. I get in elevators and there are French speakers there that I can completely communicate with. Some that are not aware that I speak and understand French will go on talking about how
bad or good their day is going, and I will just be in there listening. The minute when the elevator stops and we walk out, I will just say “J'espère que ta journée va bien”—“I hope your day goes well.” I love seeing their reaction; they will start laughing so loud, asking how I know French.
Just by me doing that, the next time we see each other it’s almost a guarantee that we are just going to start laughing at what happened. From there I see those people during lunch, and I go to
their table and say hi, ask how they are doing, and they ask how I’m doing. A few days ago, I just had to explain my story of how I went from Congo to Zambia in French. I’ve successfully added French to my arsenal and am able say I can at least understand 12 languages, speak 10, and am fluent in 7 of them, although I’m not yet fluent in French.
If French wasn’t offered at Spring Hill none of my experience with all those people that I’ve connected with would’ve been possible. I didn’t know French before I came to Spring Hill. I could understand a little bit, but Mr. Gervase’s ability to speak the language at the level of a native speaker gave me the ability to effectively understand French to a degree I never could before. And with the two years I spent learning French at Spring Hill, I’ve added something that many employers see in me that they don’t see in other candidates who apply for the same job. That is part of the reason why I’ve gotten called back to 90% of the jobs I’ve applied to.
