I had a conversation with a Chinese teacher a little while ago about how "lucky" I was to have had the opportunity to be educated abroad, and to be come native speaker of English. I love English as a language, but I've actually never really thought about my fluency as some sort of benefit. That teacher was right, I am quite lucky to be proficient in English, because otherwise I would not be where I am right now. Despite having proved that I'm not just any random westerner who's solely dependent on my English speaking abilities to find a job in Asia, the reason I was hired at my school pretty came down to me being American. And a lot of people, especially western expats, really do not know how important language is, and they'd go around flaunting their English abilities like some sort of bullet-proof vest--it's pitiful. I am very thankful that I speak English, and even more thankful for the opportunities this language has given me.
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