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I was eavesdropping on a conversation (hey -- we're writers, we're allowed to eavesdrop. It's how we make our conversations sound real) at the next table at a restaurant -- and heard a young man say, "I want to learn Tamil, it's such a beautiful language."
This got me thinking -- why do we learn a new language? |
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Dear Reader,
At a restaurant yesterday waiting for a friend, I was eavesdropping on the conversation at the next table. One young man expressed his desire to learn the South Indian language, Tamil. "It's a beautiful language," he said.
This brought to mind an email my cousin had once sent me. She wanted to write a tribute to an aunt of ours who had passed away recently, and was finding English to be inadequate. "I wish I knew Hindi," she said in the email. "I think it would help me express myself better."
Conversely, I moved to the city I live in now about thirty years ago. (I'm half a century old now.) India had different languages in the different regions, and I moved from the West to the South. I know English and Hindi, I know the local language of the Western state of Maharashtra -- Marathi, and I know the language of my home state, Gujarati and my own mother-tongue, a dialect of Gujarati called Kutchhi.
However, I am not good with any of the four South Indian languages, Kannada, Tamil, Telugu or Malayalam. Nor have I found the need to learn them, in the last thirty years. Everyone here knows either English or Hindi, and I get by just fine. Occasionally, I have trouble bargaining at a shop, or I get teased at a get-together, but on the whole, I'm okay not knowing the local language.
There are, however, those who have asked me: "Don't you want to learn the language of the place you live in?"
Well, the short (and hopefully not too rude) answer is -- no, not really. The thing is, I am not good with languages, and I don't see the need to exert myself over this when I get by perfectly well without. And I hope I don't sound childish when I give you context by saying that I have friends who have been here as long as I have or longer, and they don't speak the local language either.
So we come to -- why do we learn a language?
1. To communicate
I want to communicate my needs, my feelings, my appreciation, my displeasure about something. I need language for this. I want to communicate an idea to someone. I want to understand their ideas better. I need language for this.
The local language contains locally needed words. I've heard that the language that Eskimos speak contains a multitude of words for 'snow'. Makes sense. For them to just say 'it's snowing' would be quite meaningless. Here in Bangalore, we don't get snow. So, just the word 'snow' is enough to communicate that.
We do, however, place a lot of importance on family relationships. Sister-in-law how -- brother's wife, husband's sister, husband's brother's wife (younger or older)? Aunt, from which side of the family -- mother's, father's (by birth or marriage)? And so on. We have different words taking all of this into consideration. Here's a piece I wrote about the words for various relationships. "Wedding Confusion"
A few years ago, a visitor from North Carolina accompanied me on a visit to an Indian fruit market. She was absolutely fascinated by the varieties of mango available, and the sub-varieties in each. She only knew the word 'mango'. Now, had I asked a vendor there for 'mango' ... he would've raised an eyebrow. Need to communicate which type, sub-type and state of ripeness you want the fruit to be in, for him to be able to help. Mango -- for eating raw, cooking or juicing? Sweet, semi-sweet, not sweet? Ripe, semi-ripe, unripe? Various permutation-combinations.
2. To create
Julio Iglesias apparently learnt English, to be able to create songs in English. Creation could be a sub-head under communication, but I'd rather have it separate, since we're a site of writers!
3. To integrate
Occasionally, I do get left out of the conversation when the people around me switch from English or Hindi to the local language either assuming I know it by now, or knowing I don't. (I won't get in to the politics of the situation, we'd be here forever if I did!)
So, I might learn the language to fit in better. To be part of the gang.
In India, a new bride often learns the language of the groom's family, if his native tongue is different from hers. (And if you're asking whether it works the other way round ... well, it is a strongly patriarchal society here, so the guy gets away with not knowing the gal's native language.) So yeah, the bride tries to integrate with her new family by learning the language.
Alternatively, if I do a course of study that requires me to learn that language, I might learn enough to get by in a test, to 'integrate' with the requirements of the course.
4. To celebrate or appreciate
Sometimes, a language just sounds beautiful, or contains a wealth of literature, and one feels like learning it. So, to celebrate the language itself, or what it can give rise to.
The conversation on learning Tamil because it is beautiful sparked off these thoughts in me. The folks at the next table went on to advise the young man on how to go about this -- watch movies, listen to Tamil songs. I guess converse with people and take up a formal course in the language would be the other two ways.
Hope you enjoyed reading this newsletter!
Thanks!
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