We’re asking students, recent grads, teachers, and counselors five questions on how languages play a role in shaping personal and professional success…
Meet Mahsa—a Vanderbilt University first-year from Texas with majors in Law, History, and Society & Economics, and a minor in Philosophy.
1. Tell us a little about your earliest experiences with languages as a child.
Although I was born in Houston, Texas, Persian was my first language. Both of my parents are immigrants from Iran and thus felt it was of utmost importance to raise me in the language of all the family members who came before me. I spoke Persian fluently during my formative years, but I never learned to read or write it; that is something I would come to deeply regret.
When it came time to enroll in school, I was far behind all my classmates in English. I was constantly playing catch-up. In those years, my mom would read me English books before bed, and we’d watch SpongeBob SquarePants together as a way of familiarizing ourselves with the language. I honestly think we both owe a lot of our fluency to SpongeBob!
Even though it was hard at first, I loved school and I loved English. I developed a deep love for reading books and public speaking, and I never stopped. It wasn’t long before my English fluency surpassed that of my Persian and I started speaking English predominantly, even at home. By the time I was entering college, I had lost the ability to speak eloquently in Persian as I once could, and that loss weighed heavily on me.
2. We’d love to hear more about your current Persian class!
I enrolled in Persian at Vanderbilt because I didn’t want to feel like a stranger to my own ethnic and linguistic identity. It felt so hypocritical to speak to others about how much my background has shaped me, knowing that I was struggling to speak to my own grandmother on the phone or unable to read road signs when I visited my parents’ home country. I was sick of feeling like a poser.
It also helped that Vanderbilt’s College of Arts and Science has a language requirement for students. That was what initially got me looking into the different language classes that were offered. When I saw Elementary Persian I, enrolling was a no-brainer.
I couldn’t have anticipated how quickly my earlier memories of Persian would be unlocked. It was almost like a tripwire.
The moment I walked through the classroom door and heard my professor and classmates speak the language, no matter how rudimentary the vocabulary was, my memories started to unspool one by one. I've gotten more of the language back in one semester than I did in the past few years. It feels as though everything I once knew how to say is still there in my brain, just waiting to be unlocked and re-acknowledged.
3. Have you noticed any ways in which your formal study of Persian has had an impact on your life outside of the classroom?
Absolutely. Studying Persian has made me much more comfortable and interested in my roots. As you can probably imagine, being Persian in America is not always the easiest thing to reconcile. And interestingly, language became the main outlet through which I expressed that discomfort. By neglecting my mother tongue, I was essentially rejecting the Persian parts of me in favor of the American ones. It was my own tool for personal repression.
Making the choice to study Persian has been a complete reversal of that mentality. It’s my way of saying that I don’t think assimilation is the answer. That I won’t capitulate to those who think bilingualism is anything other than an asset.
Coming to that conclusion and rejecting the notions I’d been spoon-fed—specifically, that I needed to sacrifice Persian to be more American—has been very liberating.
4. You participate in activities held by the Vanderbilt Center for Languages (VCL): Could you share more about this?
The most impactful events I participate in with the VCL are the language tables. Every Monday from 5-6 p.m., I gather with other Persian speakers at a dining hall, where we simply speak casually to each other in the language we all love.
It’s extremely good practice and has contributed a lot to my own growth, but it’s also a marvel to hear others speak the language.
Growing up, I very rarely interacted with non-family members who spoke Persian, because there are relatively few of us Persian-speakers in the States, so the notion of speaking it with peers—let alone taking classes about it at an accredited institution—was utterly inconceivable. For that reason, watching a community grow out of it has been extremely fulfilling.
I think students on every campus who want to form that same community should either join or start language tables; more likely than not, there will be others who will jump at the chance to participate.
5. Why should undergraduate students pursue languages? Any advice for those who are considering a course for next semester?
Learning a new language is one of the best ways to expand our worldview, because it requires us to first confront the things we don’t know. As someone who is enthralled by history and doing coursework in politics and law, I’ve seen countless instances of ethnocentrism that permeate research, historical accounts, and general perceptions of different cultures and societies. What’s even more intriguing is the ensuing collective shock when these accounts turn out to be either reductionist or plain false, as if they weren’t tainted from the beginning by sheer virtue of their carelessness.
Now, more than ever, it is crucial to engage with different cultures and societies on their own terms, and language is a huge component of that. Without it, our interpretations are partial at best.
Don’t get me wrong, this globalist point of view is near and dear to my heart. But I understand that it may not pique everyone’s interest, which is why I’ve learned to talk to fellow students in terms I know will usually catch their attention: that of career prospects. Fortunately, language is extremely helpful in this department as well. There are so many benefits to knowing more than one language when it comes to the job market.
Employers are always looking for people who can speak more than one language, and so many people point to their language skills as something that gives them a leg up in the hiring process.
For students considering a language course next semester, my advice is to take the leap, and to approach it with patience. Fluency is by no means something that can be achieved overnight, and the process will almost inevitably be frustrating at times, but nothing compares to the feeling of accomplishment that comes with even small improvements. And like I've previously mentioned, there is a litany of things you can gain from both the journey and the outcome.
BONUS QUESTION: Have you got a favorite word or expression in Persian?
Persian is a very poetic language, so it’s hard to choose. But I have always loved the phrase “delam barat tang shode.” It’s our way of saying “I miss you," but it literally translates to “My heart has become tight for you.”
The language is riddled with phrases like this, which I’ve always said so casually to others without really pausing to consider their literal meaning. I’m constantly discovering that certain phrases are much wittier than they appear on the surface. I think that that, in and of itself, is poetic. There is an infinitely more intimate and lyrical layer of Persian that requires curiosity and inspection to behold. What an exciting journey to venture on!
Explore more student & recent grad voices across our blog. And, as always, visit @LangConnectsFdn on social media to share your story with us.