“Language is not a genetic gift, it is a social gift. Learning a new language is becoming a member of the club – the community of speakers of that language.”
Frank Smith
Warna kelabu membungkus langit Leeds saat terdengar ketukan di pintu.
“ Sar, lagi ngapain ?” Lucky muncul dibalik pintu dengan tersenyum ceria.
“Baru balik dari Leeds Student Medical Practice. Tenggorokan agak sakit sepertinya akan flu. Cuacanya jelek sekali , sehari sampai 4 musim.”
“English weather memang upredictable. Cuma flu kenapa ke dokter, manja.” Lucky melemparkan canda
“Masa tunggu terkapar dulu lagipula gratis koq.” Mencoba membela diri.
“Semua student memang mendapatkan insuransi kesehatan, Sar.”
“Asuransi dan insurance jadi insuransi di kamus Lucky. Alam bawah sadar lo sudah tidak bisa bedakan dan akhirnya campur baur jadi satu. Tapi lo pas ngomong Inggris memang fasih banget.”Tersenyum iseng bercampur kagum.
“Ah biasa saja Inggris gue, Sar. Anyway, praktek saja terus dengan bule British sampai titik dimana kamu lupa kalau lagi ngomong pakai bahasa Inggris. Jangan takut buat salah.” Lucky tersenyum lebar dengan intonasi suara yang wise.
Dear Lucky, percakapan tersebut telah berlalu dua puluh tahun lebih dan kamu tetap super duper humble.
True, when I get to the point where I am doing stuff in English, whether speaking, reading books or whatever it is, and I start to forget what language I am doing it in, then I am doing pretty well.
This doesn’t necessarily mean I speak good English but it does mean that my brain start to switch between my native language and English naturally. So the definition of mastery is to speak and forget that English isn’t my mother tongue. In addition, don’t be afraid to make mistakes.
“I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes. Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world.” Neil Gaiman.
