Foreign Tongue
Without a doubt, I love languages. I speak bits and pieces of a few but am fluent in none. Oh how I wish I were. Course, I have no one to speak them too which is why I've forgotten so much of what I knew. It's been 10 years since college which is where I mainly spoke other languages. As you may have seen in my listing, I was in the International Club in college. And yes, I am American. And yes, I am a goober. I was the only one who hadn't flown over 10 hours to get here. I drove. Less than 2 hours.
But my International friends accepted me. They even wanted to elect me president of the club, which I refused. I'd forgotten that till just now. But I loved being around them. I was, and am, drawn to diversity. I grew up in a small town where everyone was just like me. And I mean everyone. I'd never even met someone from out of state, let alone another country.
It's harder now, being out of college, to be a part of that cultural diversity. The midwest is hardly overrun with people from other countries. When I visited my brother in Texas, there was so much cultural diversity it was overwhelming. Everywhere I went people were speaking a different language. But I learned that each culture mostly kept to itself. I can understand that, but it's disappointing.
What I don't understand is when parents don't pass their native language on to their children. I would love to be bilingual. I would love for my kids to be bilingual. And some languages are slowly dying out. So few American Indians speak their native tongue. That is beyond my comprehension. I wish the government could or would do something to enourage the continuance of Native American languages. Some native dialects are down to a handfull of people and then they will be extinct!
I always wanted to speak Native tongues. I even memorized Indian sentences from movies like Thunderheart and Dances With Wolves. Did I mention I was a goober? Who knows if they were even real Indian words.
Oh my, did I really admit that out loud? Is it any wonder my friends (and even my sister) often pretend they don't know me? My brother (who was more amused by my little quirks) used to laugh about when I'd have too much to drink (aka drunk) and would start speaking in a mix of Spanish and Japanese that no one could understand. Course, he never had to go to the mall with me while I was wearing a fake nose ring or calling out "My name is Dances With Wolves" in Souix. Go figure.
But my International friends accepted me. They even wanted to elect me president of the club, which I refused. I'd forgotten that till just now. But I loved being around them. I was, and am, drawn to diversity. I grew up in a small town where everyone was just like me. And I mean everyone. I'd never even met someone from out of state, let alone another country.
It's harder now, being out of college, to be a part of that cultural diversity. The midwest is hardly overrun with people from other countries. When I visited my brother in Texas, there was so much cultural diversity it was overwhelming. Everywhere I went people were speaking a different language. But I learned that each culture mostly kept to itself. I can understand that, but it's disappointing.
What I don't understand is when parents don't pass their native language on to their children. I would love to be bilingual. I would love for my kids to be bilingual. And some languages are slowly dying out. So few American Indians speak their native tongue. That is beyond my comprehension. I wish the government could or would do something to enourage the continuance of Native American languages. Some native dialects are down to a handfull of people and then they will be extinct!
I always wanted to speak Native tongues. I even memorized Indian sentences from movies like Thunderheart and Dances With Wolves. Did I mention I was a goober? Who knows if they were even real Indian words.
Oh my, did I really admit that out loud? Is it any wonder my friends (and even my sister) often pretend they don't know me? My brother (who was more amused by my little quirks) used to laugh about when I'd have too much to drink (aka drunk) and would start speaking in a mix of Spanish and Japanese that no one could understand. Course, he never had to go to the mall with me while I was wearing a fake nose ring or calling out "My name is Dances With Wolves" in Souix. Go figure.
posted by SonSon at 2:02 AM
3 Comments:
That's okay, you can always make a language up. My sister and I pretend that we are speaking a different language to each other at Wal-Mart just to freak out the Arkansas natives. We grew up in Kenya, East Africa, so our language ends up sounding like some weird mix of Slavic Swahili. Just shake your head a lot and say "Ndoh" a lot, then stare down the curious onlookers. (We're in our thirties too).
What is your favorite ? I am in mad love with foreign languages! The one I really, really want to learn is Italian!!
Well, the language I speak best is Spanish. I studied it 4 years in high school and 1 in college. I do enjoy Japanese though too. No formal training in that, mostly conversational learned from our foreign exchange student. I've learned little bits from friends from China, India, Sri Lanka, Germany and Loas. I've forgotten most of those since I had the least exposure to them. No French and no Italian oddly enough.
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