Finding Joy

Finding Joy
by Tania

Even before the virus, it was hard to find joy in something because most of the time, I am doing homework, studying for exams, and helping my mother in any way I can. But I realized that learning is something that relaxes me and makes me happy. Still, I am not talking about school learning in which I take different courses, and I am expected to absorb all the information that is being given to me. Instead, I am talking about a particular type of learning that can keep my mind busy and, at the same time, expand my knowledge, not only to pass an exam but to feed my soul. Learning should be a fun process that is enjoyed by both the educator and the students. Surprisingly, during these weeks, I finally had the time to do something that I always wanted to do, and that is learning another language. English is my second language, and although I feel much more confident than I did five years ago, I still don't speak it the way I would like to. These days of isolation made me realize that when I feel compelled to learn, my brain cannot concentrate because I am not doing it for the sake of learning, but for something else. However, this third language that I am learning makes me feel happy, and I am enjoying the process twice as much because I am my own teacher. Italian is a beautiful language, and I like the pronunciation and how it sounds when someone speaks it. I have been listening to Italian songs that were translated from Spanish songs. That way, I already know what the words mean, and I can easily follow the lyrics, and so I'm improving my pronunciation. I also downloaded some apps to increase my vocabulary, and the two best ones so far are Duolingo and Falou. It is impossible to practice every day, but every time I have time, I teach myself a quick Italian lesson, and that gives me joy. Something unexpected that I find myself doing is meditating as I mentioned previously because I am contemplating my education and I like it because it is a motivation to continue learning Italian with a positive attitude.