Rumya Nithiananthan

Minor in Spanish

Current Occupation: Federal Government
Current Location: Ottawa, Canada
Program: Masters of Arts in International Affairs (2020) / Bachelor of Arts Honours Degree in Political Science (2017)

Notable Quotable:

Why did you choose this particular language?

Growing up, seeing movies, books and other pop culture sources, I was always interested in Spanish. I loved listening to others speak Spanish. The language had a poetic flow and rhythm to it. This fueled my desire to want to learn the language. Moreover, I was always interested in working internationally, potentially as a translator someday, so I thought learning Spanish would unlock a plethora of internationally-based employment and academic opportunities for me.

Seeing my fascination with the language, I decided to take up learning the language in high school. I took Spanish, all the way from grades 10 – 12, and further pursued it at Carleton as a minor to my degree. Since I was able to communicate in French, I was able to easily pick up and grasp Spanish due to the similarities in grammatical structure in both languages. However, learning Spanish exposed me to the various cultural elements associated with the language, which I did not expect but made me truly enjoy the process of learning it.

Your Learning Experience

My experience with learning Spanish at Carleton was fulfilling, meaningful and insightful. Since I had to take some language-based courses as well as some Latin American and Caribbean Studies sources to fulfill the Spanish minor-related requirements to my degree, I gained a deeper exposure and awareness to the cultures, communities and socio-economic issues of Spanish-speaking countries. Issues and themes that are very close to my heart to this day include the traditions and customs of the various Indigenous communities in South America and the struggles and stories of communities migrating from various Latin American countries in search of a better life.

I always recall this specific moment during my Latin American and Caribbean Studies course as a testament to why I enjoyed learning Spanish at Carleton. Our professor at the time, Gabrielle Etcheverry, at the last day of class, and after a week long of term-end presentations, brought some Latin American treats and snacks to share with the class, and had us share our experiences with learning Spanish and/or native languages. This made me realize how learning a language could be more than a skill, it could be a positive collective experience. Speaking a language could be intrinsically tied to one’s cultural and personal identity.

Did you travel to another country as part of your university experience?

Yes, in my third year of my undergrad, and as part of Carleton’s Alternative Spring Break (ASB) program, I had the opportunity to travel, alongside my peers, to the Dominican Republic (DR) to be involved in a week-long community initiative.

Being in a Spanish-speaking country such as the DR, I was fully immersed in the Spanish-speaking world. I heard locals speaking the language, listened to Spanish music being played on the street, and observed signs printed in the language. More importantly, and when the opportunity presented itself, I was able to have small conversations with community members in Spanish with some fluency.

Participating in this ASB trip was an invaluable and fulfilling experience for me, and would highly recommend it to anyone considering it. It allowed me to practice my Spanish in a real-world setting and enabled me to understand the real-life consequences and impact of the knowledge related to Spanish culture and language that I learned in the classroom. Altogether, I learned to appreciate and gain a better understanding of the communities that called DR as their home.

Using language after graduating

Since graduation, I have put my language skills to the test. While French is the language I most commonly use and hear at work, I have been make an intentional effort to practice and maintain my Spanish fluency as much as possible. I am a firm believer of the saying “if you don’t use, you lose it,” and that principle has pushed me to use and practice Spanish in any instance, and in any small way possible.

That said, to maintain and strengthen my Spanish, I have been watching Spanish movies, listening to Spanish songs, hearing podcasts produced in the language and occasionally, engaging in language conversation sessions being held in my city. I’ve also been privileged and fortunate to travel to various Spanish-speaking countries where I have had the opportunity to hear different dialects and pronounciations of the language by local speakers. As result, this has allowed me to expand my vocabulary and come across various expressions and idioms that have helped me express my ideas and perspectives in different ways.

Why study a second or additional language?

Learning a language can have a multitude of practical benefits such as being able to navigate a new city during travel. However, the benefits of learning Spanish for me have been more personal.

Growing up, I learned Tamil at home and my parents were insistent that all of their children learn to speak, read and understand Tamil. While initially reluctant at first, once I grasped and understood the beauty of the language, I enjoyed learning and speaking it and put in greater effort to become fully fluent in it. And today, I’m able to fully speak, read and understand Tamil!

All in all, learning Tamil made me connect with my community, the Tamil community, in a more meaningful way. I gained a better understanding of Tamil heritage and the cultural norms and assumptions that underpin the Tamil vocabulary. I learned to appreciate the richness and thinking behind the name and meaning of Tamil words. For example, in Tamil, we do not say ‘goodbye’, we say ‘naan poitu vaaren’ or ‘I will meet you again’, emphasizing the idea of connection and that one never truly ‘leaves’ as part of a farewell.

Coming from such a background, when I subsequently learned English, French and Spanish, I learned the cultural norms and assumptions behind the words and expressions in each of these languages. This cultural understanding, in my opinion, helps alleviate negative and pre-conceived notions and understandings about various linguistic communities. Taking this into consideration, I think there is some truth to the fact that those who speak multiple languages are creative, empathetic, culturally aware, strong problem solvers, and have active cognitive function. You are continuously learning different perspectives and ways to express yourself and that could prove to immensely helpful for one’s personal and professional development.

Your personal experience of studying a language at university

Looking back at my language learning at Carleton, I found pursuing or learning a language up to the 4th year level to be quite personally rewarding. Making a goal to learning an additional language, and achieving intermediate and advanced fluency in such language, is no easy task especially when it might be challenging to use and practice the language outside of the classroom (i.e. due to lack of time, financial resources, sufficient native speakers in a specific city etc.)

That said, learning Spanish has shaped my life in various positive ways. In addition to making new friends and building appreciation towards one of the most pleasant and rich languages in the world, learning Spanish has pushed me to become more confident in learning other languages, think critically, and visit countries that I did not think was possible in the past. More importantly, it has made me realize that although language is a means of communication, it can transcend into being a tool that helps us understand the similarities between people, rather than the differences.