These days, more and more people learn foreign languages, not only English or Chinese, but also other languages that are used by relatively fewer people than the two. I am one of them as well; I have started learning French last year and decided to choose French as my second major. After some struggles, I was able to get some help from a language exchange application, and Bastien is one of those I met there. He is a French native who was born and raised in Paris. He has a great passion for travelling and is deeply interested in Asian culture. He is also interested in photography, so he has made several series of short documentaries when he travelled Asia. He has been learning Korean by himself along with his studies for master's degree in finance.
The first question I asked was, "How did you end up learning Korean, while there are many other languages that are much more useful?" Then he answered, with a little bit of French accent, "Well, first I tried learning Japanese, but I gave up because of Chinese characters. And I did enjoy travelling Southeast Asia but the language didn't really interest me. Then when I visited Korea, I fell in love with everything there―food, people, ambience…so I just chose to try Korean. It's obviously easier than having to memorize those Chinese characters." He frowned when he said the last sentence. I had experienced the same kind of frustration when I was in high school. I tried learning Japanese by myself out of pure interest but the use of Chinese characters mixed with hiragana or katakana made me give up on it. So I frowned slightly and smiled at the memory as well.
Then I asked him why he loves Asian cultures so much, and he said that he could not explain exactly why. "But, I guess, because you can experience things you can't in your own country? I see many Koreans who admire European cultures, but as a European I don't see anything impressive. But, well, when I first saw a golden temple during my travel to Southeast Asia, it was simply amazing. That chill I felt, it was something I could never forget, I'd say." As he answered, I remembered when I went to London and visited Buckingham Palace. Then I was able to understand what he meant by the chill. He added that since the first trip to Southeast Asia, he was "addicted" to travelling because he wanted to explore more on other cultures that are different, "exotic" he said, to his culture. He chuckled and said, "I'm getting wanderlust every time I talk about this kind of stuff." He shrugged.
When I asked him if he thinks there is a correlation between learning a language and travelling, he answered, "Bien sûr. Definitely." He continued, "Travelling around Asia was actually a turning point in my life in some ways I think. That's why I went to Singapore as an exchange student." He explained that he decided to go study in Singapore because he felt the need to improve his English while experiencing another culture there at the same time. His English was already very good, but he said that he wanted to experience living in an English-speaking country with non-western culture, and so that was why he chose Singapore. He envied that I studied abroad in New Zealand when I was younger, and he said that he wished he was able to study abroad earlier like I did.
"Me learning Korean is also because I travelled around and found Korea attractive. You already know that. When you travel new places and experience different cultures, it is likely that you will find one or some particular cultures you get really attracted to. And that's how you start learning a new language," he added. I asked him if he ever felt that French people tend to be like that more than any other countries, he chuckled again. "Maybe, or maybe not. Well, it could be, but I don't know." Then he shrugged again, smiling.
At the end of the interview, he told me that he enjoyed answering the questions because many of them were what he had been thinking about on his own. Then I realized once more that learning a new language is not just about learning the language; it was about learning the culture through interacting with the people, sharing thoughts and ideas with one another. He thanked me for choosing him as my interviewee, but in fact, I was the one who should be more thankful about having this interview.
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