Name: Adriano da Costa Date: March 10, 2020
Third Year (Salvatorians)
Subject: Rizal
Learning that you realized from the foreign trips of Rizal (HK, Macau, US,
London and Japan)
Upon sharing with my friends in fact my classmates about Jose Rizal’s foreign
travels some said that Rizal is womanizer because everywhere he went he could have a
girlfriend there. However I came to realize that kind of relationship of Rizal was not
merely romance relationship but it was Rizal’s strategy how to survive in foreign
countries. As example, his visit to Japan, he took advantage to learn Japanese and
some drawing from his girlfriend. And I think having girlfriend as Rizal did was such a
very political and strategic way to be as fast as we can in adapting the culture and
tradition of that specific land that we visit.
My second realization is, beside from the lessons that Rizal got gratuity from his
girlfriend, Rizal also took some studies. But what I love the most is learning language.
What a very intelligent man that had a capacity very fast to learn the foreign language.
Jose Rizal again enlightens me to recall and heat up my personal studies of foreign
language. It is a personal development as Rizal did. It acquire the personal will or
desire to study foreign language.
Well it is not easy to study foreign language but Rizal did it. He can speak so
many different foreign languages, and why can’t we? One element to learn foreign
language is I think the passion. We need to immerge ourselves into the traditions of
that specific country that we would like to learn that language. In my own experience,
here in the Philippines, I tried my best to learn Tagalog, of course I cannot do like Rizal
to have a girlfriend, but as a seminarian I have to put aside my own perspective of
social life, and I need to go on the flow, according to the way of life of Filipino people,
in so that I can learn Filipino language.
I think Rizal did it very well, as in U.K his most important visiting there was just
to improve his language, though he spoke English fluently but he still needed to learn
more and more, and here I realize that foreign language that we speak fluently as we
think that we know, but in fact we still need more a further studies to deepen our
English as Rizal did, he went to U.K as one of his reasons to study English.
Another matter that I can realize from Rizal’s foreign visit is to know more the
social and political life of foreign countries. Of course Rizal’s foreign trip was not merely
meant for touristic travel. I realize that Rizal was also meant to learn some social and
political aspects from the foreign countries in order for him to come back to the
Philippines and make a revolution against the overpower and enslave system of the
Spaniards to his beloved fellows Filipinos.
Therefore, what I realize from Rizal’s trip is not merely a touristic traveling to be
meant but behind that the social and political travelling. And it becomes a lesson for me
to focus on every travel that I might have in my future. Especially as future religious, I
will be sent too for many foreign countries for mission. What I should do the first is just
like Rizal did, to immerge myself in the specific culture that I will be in order for me to
learn the language as a basic and fundamental tool for my ministry in communication
with the people whom I would meet. If we do not know the language of places that we
are sent to be, our mission will be failed. Because if we do not know the language, for
sure we will not understand the culture and tradition of that place and we cannot
perform our mission. THANK YOU.
