Have you ever tried to learn a second language? At this point in your life, you’ve most likely taken at least a few foreign languages classes. You may have even become fluent in multiple languages, but whether you are multilingual or not, you have probably experienced the struggle and frustration that comes with learning a new language.
Imagine being placed in a land where virtually no one speaks the language you’ve spent your entire life learning and being fully immersed in a completely foreign culture where everything is different from all you have ever known. This may seem like a nightmare to many of us, but for many student athletes at N.C . State, it’s a reality.
Tatiana Illova , a junior on the women’s tennis team, moved to the United States at the age of 20 after growing up in Povazska , Slovakia. It was as if she had moved to another world.
“Everything was completely different,” Illova said. “The language, food, culture, everything was tough to adjust to.” Illova said learning English was extremely difficult, but she managed to have a good understanding of the language by the end of her first semester at State. Despite catching on to the language so quickly, Illova said she struggled to keep up with things in the classroom.
“I didn’t understand anything,” Illova said. “Professors were moving so fast.”
Learning a new language can be a seemingly impossible ambition, but Jorge Risquez , a freshman on the men’s soccer team, has some insight on how he, like Illova , picked up the language in only a few months.
“At N.C . State, I was able to learn the language from a daily life of spending time with my teammates and going to classes,” Risquez said.
Risquez , who played at a soccer academy in Tampa, Fla. for one year before becoming a part of the Wolfpack , left his home in Caracas, Venezuela only two and a half years ago to pursue his dreams of a soccer career.
“I already knew a lot of basic English words before I came here, but I wasn’t fluent,” Risquez said. “I read a lot of books and really studied hard which really helped me to speak fluently.”
Although both players now fluently speak English, at times they revert to their native languages while competing.
“Being the only South American on the team, I speak English while playing,” Risquez said. “But sometimes, when I’m really mad with myself, I speak to myself in Spanish.” Interestingly enough, Illova said she does the same thing.
“When I talk to others, I speak English. When I curse at myself, I think in Slovak,” Illova said.
Risquez says he loves being here at State, and he isn’t ruling out the possibility of staying in the U.S . to play soccer at its highest level.
“Playing in Spain is actually my dream,” Risquez admits. “My goal right now is to play for a Major League Soccer team, and I’m working really hard for it.”
Being a student athlete at State is an amazing achievement in and of itself, but to come to Raleigh with only a basic knowledge of English and succeed in both athletics and academics is simply astonishing. Illova and Risquez epitomize the characteristics that define State athletics, and the diligence and dedication the two have shown proves that they have what it takes to be great leaders of the Pack.
