Switching Languages- What Does it Mean to Switch Languages?

Hello, everyone and welcome to my blog! I have to admit that it has been too many months since I last posted on here, but I promise that I will be posting more regularly in the upcoming year. I wanted to get back on track by posting about what started this blog in the first place: the concept of switching languages.

Why did I decide to name this blog Switching Languages and what does switching languages even mean? Three years ago, I sat on our living room couch and had a conversation with both of my parents. I remember telling them that I had the idea of creating a blog about the relevance and importance of spreading my love for language learning, but had no idea what I wanted to call my blog. After some reflecting, my dad suggested to call it Switching Languages, because he knew that I had to switch from one language to another on a daily-basis without even thinking twice.

For me personally, switching languages is the ability to speak multiple languages without confusing them, or hesitating when speaking more than one language. You know that you can successfully do so when you hear your parents ask: “Niñas, están listas?” and then immediately talk to your friend and say: “My parents are asking me if we’re ready to leave.” I think of it like a puzzle, or a game. For bilingual or multilingual individuals, this ability is innate. We don’t have to stop and think about every single word we’re going to say before saying it. We simply formulate our thoughts in our head and then say them. It’s really that simple.

A lot of people ask me: “How do you not get confused when speaking 7 different languages?” and “Don’t they get mixed up in your head?” Just like any other human being, I’m not perfect, so there are times in which I forget how to say a word that is rather simple in x language that I have known for years, but, aside from those instances, the answer to both of those questions is no. All of the years of training and changing personas has led me to where I am today.

In other words, languages are not just subjects that I choose to take at university and they are also not just a hobby that I choose to do whenever I have a little bit of free time. They are much more than that. In fact, they have been incorporated into my daily routine for years. The friendships I have made and the people I have met live anywhere from Pennsylvania to Japan, so it is not unusual for me to send messages to my friends in their native languages to ask them how they are doing.

Similarly, all of the notifications that pop up on my feed on my social media are about dozens of countries in more languages than I can recognize, or speak. My family is bilingual, so calling them automatically ensures that I will have spoken, or written in at least 2 languages on that given day. Furthermore, I listen to music and watch videos and movies from around the world. Now that is what I call the power and beauty of switching languages.

If you liked this post and want to keep up with my travel and languages adventures domestically and abroad, feel free to subscribe to my blog by hitting the “subscribe” button on the upper right-hand corner of this blog. I’m looking forward to the third year since the launch of Switching Languages. Espero que tengan un buen fin de semana!

How to Reduce Stress by Meditating in Another Language

Hello, everyone! For anyone who is returning to my blog, thank you so much for your unending support and patience. Despite the fact that I have not posted anything in a few months, I am hoping to get back on track in the upcoming weeks. If you are new to my blog, I am glad that you stumbled upon this post and hope that you stick along for the ride by following it. That being said, I am sure that most of you have experienced some kind of stress recently, because it is that time of the year again. Whether you are a college student who recently took finals, are a high-school student who is in the process of finishing up college applications, or are simply overwhelmed with work, it is easy to forget about the importance of taking time for yourself.

After years of overworking myself and not being as productive as I could be by asking too much of myself, I finally realized that I was missing one thing: practicing self-love and valuing my own worth. It may sound somewhat selfish, when in reality it is one of the most important practices that you can follow. I have learned that I cannot love others if I do not love myself, especially now that I am in college. One of the ways in which I have spent the little free time that I have in my spare moments throughout the week is by meditating. Though this practice may seem unrealistic, or even difficult to some, I hope that you give it a try by the end of this post.

Whenever I have me-time (time for myself to spend it the way that I desire), I like playing relaxing, soothing music and or meditating and reflecting. I recently realized how therapeutical it is and how much it helps heal my soul. Since I knew that it was something that I wanted to start implementing into my daily routine, I figured that it would be most beneficial if I did it in another language. Recently, I have been dealing with a lot of emotions, so I felt that it was best to find a relaxing way that could help clear my mind. If you simply go on YouTube and search "meditating", "meditation", or something of the sort in your target language, hundreds of videos will show up. I personally like watching videos of different people and then subscribing to the channels that I like the most, so that I easily check my feed whenever they post similar videos.

All you have to do is play one of those videos and follow exactly what the person tells you to do. Oftentimes, you will have to close your eyes, take in deep breaths, or simply relax your body. What makes this practice so worthwhile is that you can do it from the comfort of your bed, or home. If you are having a lazy day, but still want to progress in your language learning, you can do so and review words, such as "to breathe", "mind", and "to close" without even thinking about it. In other words, many of us would most likely meditate or relax anyways, so what better way to do so than to do it in another language. 

The video that is above is the first meditation video that I came across in Italian, but feel free to find ones in your own target languages. I hope that this post was helpful for all of you and that you start practicing more self love by healing your entire mind, body, and spirit.