What Do You Really Learn When You Learn a New Language?

My husband is trilingual. 🤯 For over a decade, I’ve been around his first language, Serbian, but never thought I’d be able to learn it. Not because I didn’t want to, but because I never believed it was possible, especially as an adult. I had seven years of classroom Spanish growing up and retained almost nothing. So the thought of starting over, this time with a Slavic language and a different alphabet, felt completely overwhelming.

In 2023, a career transition and a shoulder injury created unexpected space. After years working in sports as an athlete, coach, and across various roles for professional teams and partnerships, I stepped away from what had long shaped my identity. If you don’t know by now, my world had always revolved around sports, and it’s definitely where I’m most confident.

That season of transition opened space to not just ask what else was possible, but to explore what was meaningful.

That’s when I finally committed to learning Serbian. But before I did, I had to sit with a different question: Do you really believe it’s not possible? And the more I sat with it, the more I realized the barrier wasn’t the language. It was the fear of not being good at something new. Once I named that, it opened the door to just step out and try.

Over the course of a year, two to three classes a week added up to 100 hours. And while I’ve built the vocabulary, grammar, and ability to speak and read, what I’ve gained goes far beyond the language. I have an incredible teacher who has guided me every step and along the way and has become my friend in the process. Her patience, encouragement, and support made what once felt impossible feel possible, and turning this experience into something much more.

Here are five things this journey has taught me:

1. Progress is a process
   Small steps are the big steps when you’re in it for the long haul. The days you don’t feel like showing up are often the most important ones.

2. You only know what you know
   There are over 7,000 spoken languages across the world. That fact alone challenges how I view people, cultures, and perspectives. Staying open to different experiences has shifted how I think and how we connect as people.

3. Ask better questions
   Language learning forces you to listen closely, ask for clarity, and stay curious. Leaning in with curiosity creates space for deeper connection and understanding.

4. You don’t get very far doing it alone
   We need each other, especially when we step into something new. People who show up alongside you in the process makes all the difference.

5. You can make your world as big or as small as you want
   I’ll leave this one to your own imagination! 💭