Cartagena de Indias, Colombia
A mural in Getsemaní, Cartagena, honoring the Nobel Prize-winning author Gabriel García Márquez ("Gabo") and his iconic motif of yellow butterflies.
In early September, as I was packing my bags for Colombia, I made a promise: I would not speak any English during the trip. At that stage, it was nothing philosophical, just pragmatic intelligence. I wanted a full Spanish immersion in order to maximize the learning, and past experience had taught me that hanging out with English speakers would interrupt the experience.
During the first days, I took the promise a few steps further. I paused all English language podcasts, music and series. This was a big change for somebody like me, a heavy user of streaming services. No reading books, newspapers or journals in English, either. Writing this blog was the only thing that would be allowed. To give you more context, I mentioned this in my second post from Colombia: A Beginner’s Mindset.
Six weeks passed quickly and yes, I did keep the promise. A few times, it was not easy but I stuck with it. But that’s not all.
I returned home a week ago. Seven weeks have passed and I’m still not speaking English.
That in itself is not difficult because our world here in Vasto is 100% Italian and English speakers would have to be visitors. It’s off-season now so there are no tourists around. I’d have to call a friend overseas to switch languages.
What’s striking is that I have not gone back to listening, watching or reading content in English. It’s not that I would not be allowed to - the restrictions are off - but I have not wanted to. Instead of restoring my old favorites, I’ve started replacing them with Latin American content. The same applies to books.
In other words: what started as a simple practical rule to make the most of Spanish school has turned into something more significant. A spontaneous change in my daily habits and preferences. A slight shift in what makes me feel happy and comfortable. On top of that, it’s become an experiment that I’m observing with growing interest.
All my life, I’ve lived in a world where the English language has played a key role. For decades, it was my studying and working language even if I didn’t always live in an English-speaking country. It’s the language we speak together with a number of international friends. Add the entertainment world, media, music, literature, and it became my dominating language.
The key question was, how would my world be different if I excluded English?
Bocagrande seen from a sunset party boat cruise.
Here are the results of the trial so far:
THE POSITIVE
Accelerated Spanish learning. The full immersion did deliver. My goals were ambitious to start with, and I learned even more than I expected. A big part of this was, naturally, thanks to the excellent teachers at Centro Catalina. Delightfully, the learning motivation persists beyond the formal course.
Discovering fascinating new content, as well as speakers and artists I had not known before. By the way, we have salsa music playing at our house all the time now.
Seeing the world with more colors and shades. Our thoughts are deeply connected with language, even if they are not the same thing. Changing the language we use to describe reality opens us to different ways of thinking and seeing.
The more joyful side of my personality is coming out. Language and culture are interconnected. On average, Colombians are friendly and cheerful, and I noticed quickly that I started acting that way myself. We’re social animals, and our behavior impacts other human beings. It would be hard not to smile when everyone around you does. Kindness is contagious!
Empathy for those people who do not speak English. The world can sometimes be confusing and unkind to them.
On a sunset party boat, near Bocagrande.
A view from the OZ Hotel Collection rooftop.
THE LESS POSITIVE
The English language plays a dominating global role today, and not speaking it restricts your world, especially when you’re on the road. I knew this in theory but had never experienced it on my own skin. Now I have, partly. I could switch off the speaking but, of course, could not deactivate the understanding.
Saying “no hablo inglés” made me unable to participate fully in some activities, and restricted my social life to some extent - even at the Spanish school.
I had to learn that sometimes, people do not treat you very nicely when you speak no English. I do hope that I have not been guilty of this in the past! (At the same time, I must admit, it was quite amusing to understand the comments when people thought I was clueless.)
All that said, the experiment was completely my own idea, my own choice. I’m not complaining. The upside is massive and outweighs the downside.
Will I continue the experiment?
I will, but not in such an absolute manner. I will gradually reactivate the spectrum of all my languages because polyglot life is much richer and more interesting. But I will cherish this learning experience in my heart and repeat it with a different language in the future.
But in the meantime, I will keep listening to Colombian podcasts and music. And read Gabriel García Márquez.
And I will return to Colombia.
*****
My Bocagrande Favorites
Two weeks ago, I already wrote a love letter to Cartagena, but it did not cover the Bocagrande neighborhood. Here’s the addendum:
51 Sky Bar - a must see for us rooftop lovers. Located on top of the Hotel Estelar Cartagena de Indias, it’s Colombia’s highest rooftop bar and with 202 meters, the second-highest building in the country.
7 Cielos - a lovely upscale rooftop restaurant with beautiful views and professional service.
OZ Hotel Collection - an excellent hotel at the heart of the neighborhood. Comfortable rooms, friendly service, and a fantastic rooftop pool with a view.
Leña y Carbon restaurante - fantastic food, rich in flavors, quality ingredients and a generous portion. Very friendly personnel. Live music by a sax player and a two-man band.
Boka Restaurante - the food was absolutely among the best I had in my six weeks in Colombia (and the coconut rice was the best!). As a cherry on the cake, there was lovely live music.
The personnel at my Cartagena favorite, El Coro Lounge Bar, gave me a surprise on my last evening!
The last pic in Cartagena’s historic center - this time round.