ARLA/CLUSTER: O radioamadorismo como escola de idiomas.

[João Gonçalves Costa]

Foreign languages and ham radio

There has been relatively little mentioned regarding the topic of language acquisition and ham radio. Speaking more than a half dozen languages myself, I have developed a strong passion for foreign language learning and speaking, which, proudly to say, traces itself back to my earliest days as a ham radio operator. 

It was 1972, when the language bug hit me. Well, that's actually not an accurate statement, although the word "bug" somehow played a role in the whole thing. You see, my first real exposure to any type of language was to that of morse code, when I received my Novice Class License in January of 1971, as WNØDNY, a just turned fifteen year old brasspounder only, living in Palisade, Colorado, in an often forgotten part of the state, just off the eastern border of Utah, at the confluence of the Gunnison and Colorado rivers. Yes, it wasn't long that I traded my CW straight key for a bug, a Vibroplex Lightning bug to be exact. As I became more and more proficient in morse code, my ability to to communicate in this mode gave me additional confidence. Within a short time I was QSOing at a comfortable 30WPM. I had developed a skill. I had discovered that I had a special talent. Anybody that has ever tried to learn morse code and failed miserably will attest that one needs to be born with a certain talent or knack for CW. 

Within a year and a half of getting my first license, I had put up my first radio tower. I now had a 2 element cubical quad up 45 feet. Having been licensed as a General for a year now, I was set. And propagation conditions couldn't have been better. 

Now, enter high school. Having moved from Palisade to Grand Junction, Colorado, I was in the big leagues, a sophomore at Grand Junction High School, another 12 miles to the west of Palisade and I had my quad, an antenna that could make a difference. I would have never known that my passion for ham radio would have ever intersected that of foreign language at this point in my life. 

German war movies - you never know from what direction those influences in life may come which have permanent effect on your life. "Man, listen to those krauts," I would tell myself. "That sounds so cool, I wonder what they're saying." Enter Jim Witt, an outgoing teacher of German language at GJHS. Hey, he even looked like one of us, striped pants, a flair for what's cool, with hair over his ears and touching his collar. He had a love for us kids and it showed. Within a short time, his passion for German became my passion for German. 

It didn't take long for me to connect a few dots. Within just a few weeks I found myself on my ham radio. Ten and fifteen meters were great. And there were plenty of Germans who were more than willing to put up with my broken German. Yes, by this time I had discovered SSB and used it well to my advantage. 

If you've ever dreamed of being the target of a pileup, you don't have to travel to Howe Island to make it happen. Back in 1972 I would hop on 10 or 15 meter sideband and call "Tsay koo doytshlawnt" (CQ Germany) and within no time I had calls coming in, including stations from HB and OE. By the end of the first QSO, the pileups started happening. And the reason was because these great DLs, DJs, DKs, OEs and HBs wanted to talk to me, simply because I was working DX in their language.

Fast forward to today. How about RTTY, Amtor, Pactor, PSK-31. Try turning the beam toward South America and start calling CQ in Spanish and see what you get. This is really cool stuff. 

My interest in foreign language has now spread beyond German alone. I now speak Russian, Dutch, Swedish, Italian and Spanish, some languages better than others. I'm now learning French. Try reading Jules Verne in the original French. He would have been a great ham radio operator.

See you on the bands. Auf Wiederhören!

Mark Kelley, WØBG

Parker, CO
USA