Jasmina Tacheva writes about the essence of a language.

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By Jasmina Tacheva

she taught me about German
the way birds teach their young to fly
by coaxing them out of the nest
and letting them follow their instinct
she showed me a language is more
than the sum total of vocabulary and grammar
more than idioms and etymology
more than you and me reciting
Schiller and Heine, Novalis and Hölderlin
more than folklore, more than politics
more than anything humanity
can think of
really
language
is more than Twain’s wit
and Feuchtwanger’s style
more than beauty and aesthetics
more than standardized tests
and the teacher’s glasses
sweating under the enormous weight
of such responsibility–
how to teach these kids the language
of Friedrich dem Großen &
Nathan dem Weisen
and yet she taught me it
the way a girl
learns to love
through many
grievous
mistakes
she finally learns
that love
can’t be learned
but just
made
the way we make German
when we talk
and read
and think
together
a thousand miles
apart