Forelsket. Retrouvailles. Quaint. None of these words can be directly translated into other languages. Forelsket, in Norwegian, denotes the initial bliss of falling in love. Retrouvailles, a French word, signifies the joy of meeting again after a long time. Quaint, of course, is quaint. These strange words, so easily lost in translation, are what give a language its character.

I have always been under the spell of words. They are a great enigma; we can only theorize as to how or when or where language originated. My personal fascination with language began with my love of reading. As a child, poring over books at the library, I became aware of the innumerable powers that words have. They could introduce me to things that I had never seen; they could tell stories; they could persuade me to feel a certain way. Some of my greatest childhood friends, Harry Potter and the Baudelaire Orphans, were crafted entirely from words! Words are intangible, and yet their impact on me was very real. All I knew was that I was never able to get enough of them.

Although words like retrouvailles and forelsket are specific to certain languages, we can relate to their meanings because they are universal. The study of language is essential not only because it allows us to venture outside of our own cultural sphere, but because it reveals truths about human nature. People and languages are very similar. They are complex yet chaotic, they are always changing, and they are absolutely fascinating.