Have you ever counted exactly how many times you use the verb 'want' in one day?
I've lost count (that's probably because I've never counted it, well, who would anyway?). I don't know about you but hardly a day goes by without me musing, "Oh, I want that", "Wow, I want those" and the list perpetuates. My boyfriend once took the mick out of me in his cute accent, "อะไร อะไรก็ ฉันอยาก ฉันอยาก" (which translates roughly as "you’re always saying, I want this, I want that).
Somebody knows me too well.
Most people should have known by now that I'm working as a Personal Tutor at the soi-disant best school of English in this country, Wall Street Institute. The position title can be a bit misleading but, hey, it pays good money and it's written with the capital p and t so there must be something really special with the job eh?
I wish!
Anyway, I had a chance to do this 'exit level' ( an interview test where students must answer q's from us in order to proceed to the next level) with a Survival student (Survival being the lowest level there is). I've done this thing many times before, obviously, but I'd never really noticed til then that in the exercise book for Survival student, the very first verb that's being introduced to the students was the verb (drum rolls...)
'want'
If I'm not mistaken, I think this particular verb is being introduced right after basic stuff like Subject pronouns, numbers, how to use in, at. Let me ask you this, do you find it intriguing?
I did!
It's interesting to see how we human beings put our wants first thing on our list. Your wants usually precede mine, my wants usually precede yours, ours usually precede other's. It's never-ending. What was the first thing we did when our mommies popped us out of them? We screamed, at the top of our lungs. Never mind the worn-out, sweaty, I'd-just-only-been-puhsing-you-outta-me-for-the-last-twelve-hours mommy, concentrate on me first! We wanted to be given attention to, wanted to be showered with a little TLC from other human beings, and last but not the least, wanted to be fed right off the bat!
We are selfish and we know it.
See? We’d learned how to project our wants and needs even before we learned how to conjugate the verb! Also, when learning a new language, what could be better than being able to express our wants and needs with fluidity in that language? Of all the basic verbs you'll ever learn in a new language, "to want" is perhaps the most useful one. My place of work obviously knows what they're talking about eh!
Don’t get me wrong. I have nothing against wanting, as long as it’s harmless. Wanting makes the world go round. It enables economic growth. What about those technologically-advanced inventions and gadgets (like iPod for instance)? All stemmed from someone or a group of someone’s wanting to make things better, thus makes our lives easier. But what happens if the wanting becomes excessive? The evil side of wanting, wars and terrorism are perfect examples…
Need I elaborate more?
It’s probably a good idea to turn around and start to care about the wants of people around you. Believe me, giving can be more emotionally fulfilling than getting.
Most of the things I want, I’ve just realised, aren’t what I really need. I can simply live without them. But hell, I don’t want to!
And on that note I shall close…
I want that iPod!!!!
