All the way

A couple of years ago, in good old Germany, someone asked me how come I could speak English they way I do. I remember I offered a very simple answer: “I went all the way”. The funny thing is that I later realized I had borrowed that reply not from the Sinatra song but rather from “Pretty Woman” (I believe it was the bathtub scene, where Vivian asks Edward if he had gone to college).

Anyway, I mention this because I recently came across a poem by Charles Bukowski which challenges us to do exactly that: “to go all the way”. Granted, it is extreme advice, coming from an extreme man. Leaving aside his controversial, self-destructive lifestyle, his rough prose, his legendary misanthropy, etc. Charles Bukowski was, among many other things, an interesting man. In one of the two poems recited in the clip below he suggests we should all act as if we were possessed by a life-consuming passion. I don’t think I can quite share such a radical take on life but I can certainly relate to the idea of pushing the boundaries, disregarding conventions and always going the distance. The truth is not everyone is cut out to be that passionate about things. Some people just want to dip their toes in the water. Some others prefer to plunge into it and explore the boundless abyss. Should we all dive and risk everything? Probably not...

Take the case of language learning. One may only want to learn enough English to travel or to read technical manuals or to make a business presentation or to express their feelings accurately or to write poems. You are entitled to choose how far you want to go. That said, it is true that those who go all the way often enjoy an indescribable kind of satisfaction. But I digress… This is my last post in this academic year. I’m afraid we have reached our final destination (for the time being). Are you somehow satisfied? Terrified? Calm? Indifferent? Whatever your feelings might be, please take two minutes of your time and listen to these poems. Appreciate the mesmerizing, gravelly voice that reads them, feel the words, savor the ideas, disagree with them, think of your own verses. It’s one of the great payoffs of learning a language, is it not?