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Blogs by Dorien Grey
Speaking in Tongues
12/6/2010 4:16:18 AM
Europeans are multi-lingual of necessity; Americans by choice. Why?
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From Dorien Grey and Me (http://www.doriengreyandme.com)
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Because America is such a large country, relatively few Americans are, or feel the need to be multi-lingual. I've been reminded of this while planning a return to Europe after more than fifty years. It also got me to thinking about just how fascinating language is.
I've always admired those who are multi-lingual, and I have, at one time or another, studied Spanish (two years) and French (two years), with the result that I know enough to get myself into a conversation, but not enough to get myself out. I will happily begin speaking Spanish only to suddenly lapse into French. I generally realize this only when I see the look of utter confusion on the face of whomever I’m trying to talk to. Or, I will liberally sprinkle Spanish words into a conversation in French, or vice-versa. Worst…and most common of all, I will be talking along merrily and suddenly forget the next word. Its effect on the conversation is similar to driving a semi trailer into a concrete wall, and from that moment on, all is lost.
I did learn enough of both Spanish and French to realize that it is far easier to speak either one if you think in the language you’re trying to speak. That way you don’t have to fumble around doing mental translations before saying something.
I began, after returning to college from my stint in the Navy, which involved eight months in Europe, to audit a German course. I was fascinated by the instructor’s saying that German is the only language in which each word of a sentence can be written on block of wood, thrown on the floor in a jumble, and someone who’d not seen the original can pick up the blocks and put the sentence together perfectly. That certainly can’t be said for English. But I was too busy with other things like having a good time, and dropped out after about two weeks. I am, however, able to say, should a German tourist ask me a question: Shadeh, aber ich spreche nicht Deutsch” (phonetic for “Sorry, but I don’t speak German.”) Hey, it's something!
While bobbing around the Mediterranean while in the Navy, I decided I wanted to learn Greek. I found, in the ship’s library, a book printed in English on the left-hand page, and Greek on the right. I worked at it diligently for some time trying to compare the two and make sense out of it, but didn’t get very far, and by the time the ship reached Athens, I had mastered two phrases…phonetics again…: “Poo-eenay gabinito?” (“Where is the bathroom?”) and “Efferisto” (“Please” I think…it’s been a while, after all.) Again, not much but something.
I would love to speak in many tongues. If only I were not so easily tongue-tied.
I remember when I was a kid reading poetry which had been translated from another language, being rather disgusted that it often didn’t rhyme. “It’s poetry,” I’d say with far more authority than I possessed. “It’s supposed to rhyme!” The fact that words which rhyme in one language do not rhyme in another escaped me for quite some time. But even with the translation of prose, there are inherent problems. The pacing and lilt of words selected to create an effect suffer seriously when dealing with another language. A beautiful-sounding word in one language can sound like someone coughing up phlegm in another. (German has lots of phlegm words, I’ve noticed.) I do not envy the translator struggling to find a way around the problem.
The difficulty of dealing with and making sense of languages is compounded when the alphabets of the two languages are totally different: Arabic, Cyrillic, English, Chinese, many others. And Armenia has an alphabet created by one monk, and therefore totally different from any other. Maybe I should study Armenian next. Care to join me?
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Another entry will be posted next Monday, and I hope you will come by. In the meantime, if you enjoy my blogs, I hope you might consider reading one of my books. You can check them out and read the first chapter of any/every one on my website, http://www.doriengrey.com
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