I find going where the first language is not my language to be a humbling experience.
Suddenly I don’t have something I usually take for granted - the ability to communicate easily and naturally through words, in simple or complex, perhaps nuanced, ways. Little children can do it and I can’t. I feel like I should do my best to use their language rather than expect people to talk to me in English. I made some effort to learn a little Italian before we went. Even so, my Italian was so limited I gratefully accepted the help when the person I was communicating with switched to English. Invariably their English was better than my Italian.
I still have gestures and smiles no matter what the spoken language is, which helps a bit. Nevertheless, it’s very hard to communicate any specific content with those (except when I what I want can be pointed at). The chef at our villa was very friendly. She also spoke no English at all. My uncle was best at Italian out of all of us and he was able to understand she was especially taken with his adopted Cambodian son because she has an adopted son from Guatamala. She had enthusiastically showed me the photo but all I picked up was “I have a son too”. Communication is so much more rich and interesting when I can understand the details. Read the rest of this entry »
08-08-2007 |
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