A TALENT FOR LINGUISTICS

Nazik Bergsma, senior, learned how to read, write and speak in four languages throughout the course of her childhood after extensive traveling at a young age. 

Bergsma, half-Moroccan and half-Dutch, came to Lynn in 2016 to pursue a career in psychology. However, her diverse profile began long before arriving at Lynn.

“I started learning English at the kindergarten level,” said Bergsma. “It was a bit difficult to learn the proper terms to write and speak at first due to the differences in sentence structures.”

After mastering how to speak and write in English, Bergsma was introduced to the Arabic language. 

“I started learning how to speak Arabic in the first grade,” said Bergsma. “However, I was already learning the language at home. Being raised in Morocco, we needed to know understand it.” 

Bergsma came across French roughly four years later. With no prior knowledge of the language, it proved to be one of the most difficult concepts for her to fully embrace. 

“Even though I started learning French in the fifth grade, it was one of the hardest courses,” said Bergsma. “However, my mom was my teacher for five years, which led to my ultimate progression to advanced French.” 

Bergsma would later give her high school graduation speech in French, showcasing her proficiency in the language. Not long after, though, came her battle with Dutch. 

“Dutch was a language I never sought to learn in school,” said Bergsma. “It’s not my strongest language, but I still appreciate the culture and being able to interact with those individuals.” 

With the talent and advantage of speaking in four languages, Bergsma is far more comfortable socializing and making new friends across the globe. Regardless of the environment in which she finds herself, her ability to understand others and their cultures has given her a lifelong tool for connecting with the world.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.