EF#4 – Translation Jelly

 

Grab A Tool From Doraemon’s Magic Pocket!

Bismillahirrahmaanirrahiim…

Humans use language as their system of communication. Different with  bees, for example, which use the same ‘language’ no matter where they live, we do not communicate in the same language. People in different countries speaks different languages. Even Indonesian have their own regional languages, such as Javanese, Minangese, Sundanese, etc. I cannot imagine how many languages that are existing in the world. It will be a huge number if we count it, right?

Ludwig Wittgtenstein said, “The limits of my language mean the limits of my world”. His quote inspires me to learn various languages, in order to be a polyglot, a person who masters multiple languages. By being a polyglot, I can comprehend what other people say in their native language. The person whom I speak to does not need to force him/herself to speak in my language or in English, the international language. We do not need to use random gestures to communicate. No more barrier to express our thoughts and feeling. When I go abroad, I don’t need to be afraid of communicating with foreign people. If something happens, I can ask for help to the people in that country in their native language. Not only socially advantageous, mastering languages also helps me to expand my range of knowledge. To get some new informations, I can access many sources, not only in Indonesian or English, but also in other languages.

Being a polyglot is not impossible. Do you know Agus Salim, an Indonesian national hero, or Gayatri Wailissa, an Ambonese girl who mastered 14 languages? They were both well-known polyglot from Indonesia. I am sure that other than them, there are some (or many) Indonesian polyglots that we may not know. The key is having adequate time and strong determination because learning languages is time-consuming and quite difficult, depends on what language which we want to learn. Do not have enough money to take a language course? Learning languages is not necessarily expensive; we can use free resources from library or internet and have our friends as learning partners.

My native language is Minangese and Indonesian. As for foreign languages, I can understand and speak English quite well. Other languages that I had learned are Arabic, Japanese, and German, yet I master none of them. I still have a long way to go to be a polyglot. It cannot be helped, since I cannot manage my time to learn languages. Besides that, my determination is not strong enough to learn languages patiently and consistently.

However, if I can grab a Translation Jelly (hon’yaku konnyaku) from Doraemon’s magic pocket, being a polyglot is no longer a dream. All I have to do is chewing and swallowing the jelly. After my stomach ingests it, voila! I can understand and speak any language that I want. Arabic, German, or Japanese? No problem! Even Russian with its Cyrilic alphabets or Sansekerta? It will be as easy as snapping my fingers. I will work as a translator or an interpreter in various international events. Being an ambassador will be possible since I have an excellent language skill. What a convenient life!

Still, the duration of effect is unknown. How much jelly that I need to make the effect lasts forever? Thousands? Or maybe, millions? Doraemon will be angry to me because I depend on him like what Nobita did.

Doraemon does not exist in the real world. That is the most important thing that I should remember. Thus, I will start learning and get my language skill polished by practicing it continuously, not by wishing a magic tool to a fictive cat robot :).