Learning A Language

At breakfast this morning Wendy spoke a different language to her phone.

And her phone responded!

The language of soil and plants is a passport to flavor & health.

I was just sipping some coffee, and she just launched into a full stream of what was clearly a complete set of thoughts, and the phone understood her perfectly and answered in kind.

It was like magic.

I couldn’t understand a bit of it. It was like a secret code that I wasn’t privy to. It was awe inspiring.

It was French.

As I stood, dumbfounded, clinging to my mug, I quickly remembered that in reality there was nothing magic about Wendy’s knowledge of a new language other than its effect on me.

I remembered how she had, with unfailing discipline, used Duolingo every day for months. She didn’t just fit it in when she had time. She set time aside for it. She was committed, and regular.

Over time she built a foundation of basic knowledge of the language and then added to it. She made mistakes and learned from them. Many things happened in her life, like all of the life and job changes that resulted from a global pandemic as well as all the normal abnormalities of life. But none of these changes kept her from learning new words and practicing old ones every day.

The result is that she has begun to learn a new language and everything that implies. She has a passport to a different culture, new ideas, a bridge between her and many new people around the world… and the ability to order wine in Paris.

If you’ve traveled internationally (or even nationally in some cases) you probably have had those moments of wishing you could convey your thoughts to someone who didn’t understand you.

Wendy and I experienced an entire wine tasting on the slopes of Mount Etna with a proprietor who didn’t speak English. She just plunged ahead in Italian, and described each of the wines and (presumably) how she grew them to reflect the flavors of the volcanic terroir. We only had beginner level knowledge of Italian. As memorable as the experience was, I think we were all a bit frustrated at our inability to connect above an elementary school level.

“Grazie mille,” as heartfelt as you say it, only goes so far.

The problem is that most of us aren’t like Wendy. We don’t start learning the language we need until we’re forced to.

We don’t usually change unless it hurts more to not change. Don’t ask me how often I’m doing my Duolingo Spanish lessons.

But most things that are important are like languages. The knowledge necessary to understand the complex problems facing us, and their potential solutions, can’t be learned by occasional attention.

When people visit our house in Los Angeles, they’re amazed by the vibrant and thriving permaculture ecosystem they see. It’s like a magical, fairytale food & wine forest in South Central.

But we’ve been building it for 9 years. We didn’t know what we were building towards when we started. We just wanted to know where our food and wine came from.

During that time we’ve learned an immense amount, and that knowledge has changed our lives – even revolutionized it.  

What we’ve learned has enabled us to see how much we don’t know… how much there is to be learned. This is a language we will continue to study for the rest of our lives.

We started Centralas for anyone who wants to begin learning this language.

Make an appointment to come taste our wines and get a garden tour. We’d love to see you… and practice our language skills.