Blog I: 100 Skills
One of the skills from the “ 100 Skills Every Man Should Know List” is to speak a foreign language. I speak three languages; English, Spanish, and French. I started learning Spanish at a young age, probably around 4 years old, and I’ve studied French for over eight years. Spanish and French are both romance languages, so once you know one, it’s easy to pick up another.
Speaking more than one language makes me feel connected to other people. I know that I may not have the best accent in either of these languages, but native speakers tremendously appreciate the effort. In general I think that speaking more than one language puts you at an advantage because it gives you new ways to interpret life. To me language is not just a skill to help you communicate with others, language depicts the beauty of different cultures and their values. Right now I’m learning to speak Punjabi, I can say common phrases and a couple of nouns!
Attached is a video of me speaking Spanish, then French. In the video I say “How are you! Here I am speaking Spanish. I’m very excited to start this class. Hi my friends! Here I am speaking French. I’m very excited to start this class”.
I think speaking a foreign language was included in the “ 100 Skills Every Man Should Know List” because men are usually associated with corporate business and learning a foreign language would be a great skill for expanding business internationally. It’s also a gender norm for men to be “more adventurous” and “ risk takers”, in the sense that society thinks that men are more capable of being independent and of branching out. That being said, speaking a foreign language would hypothetically allow men to branch out to explore new things.
The first thing I would put on the “100 Skills Every Woman Should Know List” is to “practice self-love”. An astounding amount of women look to men for validation and self worth. This is an unhealthy behaviour because it creates a cycle of men dictating how women should behave, and then women seeking out this validation. It’s important for women to love and be true to themselves, so that the cycle that's so engraved into our culture can break. I would put “be compassionate” on the “100 Skills Every Human Should Know List”. Compassion is what brings us together as human beings. If we all preached and practiced compassion I think we would live in a more harmonious environment. I personally don’t think/cannot think of any skill that should not be on all three of these lists. Most of the skills on the “ 100 Skills Every Man Should Know List” are physical skills, which are skills that anyone can learn depending on their interest.
Hi Analy! I absolutely loved your post! I was actually very surprised to see that speaking a foreign language was on the list because I had never considered it a "masculine" thing to know how to do. My mother taught me French from a young age and so I was always under the impression that speaking another language should just be a skill that every human should know. I also 100% agree with you that speaking another language puts you at an advantage in life! I know that when I travel to France or French-speaking countries, the people there always appreciate it. Moreover, I think that speaking a foreign language should really just be on the list of skills everyone should know, and not just men.
ReplyDeleteHello Analy! I resonated with your point about how knowing another language helps you connect with other people. I've noticed firsthand when native Spanish speakers appreciate the effort I take to speak in Spanish rather than English, even if my Spanish isn't that good. My parents taught me Hindi when I was growing up and I spoke both languages in my house, so I think that is why I appreciate learning different languages so much. I recently studied abroad in Berlin and my favorite class I took was German because even though everyone in Berlin spoke English, I always felt like people were more warm and welcoming when I attempted to start the conversation in German first. I had never thought about how speaking a foreign language would be masculine partially because it is associated with corporate business, but that makes sense. I agree with Natalie that speaking a foreign language could be on the list of skills everyone should know, as it connects us to others regardless of gender.
ReplyDeleteThis was Ashna by the way, not sure why it doesn't say my name!
DeleteI would be curious to hear more about the skill of practicing self-love. What does it entail? How does one learn it? You write, "An astounding amount of women look to men for validation and self worth." How does this happen and how could it be avoided? I am also wondering if self-love of the sort you have in mind is gendered, by which I mean, should a woman love herself *as a woman* or is that inconsequential to self-love properly practiced?
ReplyDelete