Climbing the knowledge Wall

An adventure awaits...

We are limited only by what we 'choose not to know'.

Early last year I started to blog on a social media platform which is Spanish in origin - beBee.com . I was invited to visit the site and began publishing soon after. Its been a rollercoaster of learning and understanding people, their cultures and languages!

Indeed, there is a very diverse range of cultures which we would never know, unless we choose to go out and find it. There is much to learn from what we do not understand because we have never had an experience. The internet has made it possible for us to interact and interface with many countries and languages, and its all fascinating.

My reverie 

As a teenager I studied Spanish in school. I did not wish to learn Spanish, I was drawn to French, but they were a pair, and to do one you had to accept the other. There was a fieldtrip to Venezuela, which is very close to Trinidad, but my mother could not afford to send me. I did not go to Martinique with the French group, there was no money for this also. I read in the Encyclopedias, looked at photographs and watched the few shows available on national television. It was not enough for me. More than fifteen years later I went to Venezuela and stood still at the airport, fascinated by the language and the people. Watching and observing, smelling and feeling, listening to the essence of the country. Upon my return, I visited Puerto Rico, and it was amazing. Finally, I experienced standing in another place where what I did not know forced me to communicate with something beyond words. I smiled, nodded, pointed, and used my limited Spanish to the curiosity and many times humor of those around me. "You do not need to know Spanish, everyone speaks English," I was advised by someone. In my heart I felt  to say to the person speaking, "what a shame you do not wish to communicate with the same level of understanding. It is better to try and make a fool of yourself, than to sound good to yourself alone." 

I signed up for classes at the Venezuelan Embassy for a year and achieved to intermediate Spanish level.

Blogging beyond borders

One of the very best things I've discovered is 'I love the Spanish language' and the way words are expressed. I am inspired by the passion of writers who can make you feel their words like Jose Manuel Lopez Garcia, Mamen Delgado and Fernando Santa Isabel Llanos to name a few. I'm not beyond an intermediate knowledge stage in Spanish, but I take advantage of my online translator on many occasions. I'm familiar with more words and phrases and can figure out the content most times. The technical stuff, sends me 'up a wall', but I like climbing walls - they challenge me to go beyond mere words.

Many days, I will try to read out loud the articles, and sometimes I know I'm sounding crazy, but its a way of learning. On other  occasions I will listen to the words on my audio translator and I can poke fun at myself while learning. Sometimes, I share a Spanish post on my English 'hives' aka groups and  hope there are others like me willing to take a chance and 'climb the wall of knowledge'. Why not?

What distinguishes beBee.com from other platforms now, for me, is the way I can practice and experience Spanish , Portuguese, French. I'm hoping one day my knowledge expands way beyond the limitations of a single language. The world embraces many currencies, and people from other cultures and countries take the time to learn English. They climb walls accepting it as functional and normal. I admire their willingness to cross barriers and boundaries, mastering more than what they are given from birth.

If you visit the posts I share and come across something in another language, its because I climbed that wall. I'm green, as are my verbs in Spanish sometimes, but I don't mind sounding silly to become better!

This year I intend to climb many more walls, and maybe I will become an expert one day. So while I can read and post in English on beBee, and there are millions of English bloggers and followers, I want more. It is here, it is possible, because someone chose to break barriers creating the internet, and now someone stepped up and brought me a 'language wall' to climb.

Most mobile phones will have a built in translator, or you can download a translator app. They do mess up the verbs many times, but they also get it right! Definitely beBee.com has something no one else can help me with on social media at this time. Something soo simple, makes a big difference, because I choose to climb knowledge walls!

This morning as I read, sharing my experiences seemed important. Thank you for reading.

Muchas Gracias. Por que no?

A short brief about me: I’m a corporate business veteran, with practical experience in a diverse range of industries — Safety/ HVAC / FMCG /Industrial Equipment /and much more . Sales ,Marketing, Business Development & Coaching are combined to deliver over 30 years experience. As an entrepreneur and blogger (Dwordslayer) I’m right now living an adventure, and looking forward to the next opportunity to challenge mediocrity.

 

Find me on: Twitter https://twitter.com/DLE41 or email:dwordslayer@gmail.com

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