Project 1, Mode 1
“Bonjour Madame!”
I heard the faint sound inside the classroom as I scurried along the hallway, desperate to reach my first ever, Spanish class in my new school. Although I was slightly familiar with Spanish, I was eager to learn a new language from scratch. It was my first time learning, in class, a language other than English and Hindi. I was filled with curiosity, but I felt a bit intimidated, as if I was stepping across the borders of my nation and entering a whole new world. To a shy fourth grader, this felt like a giant leap of exploration into a new culture. Different from anything I had experienced before.
As I opened the door and peered inside nervously, I saw seventeen pairs of eyes stare at me. I felt intimidated, as if I was a freshwater fish in the vast ocean. I walked in only to see another pair of eyes, behind thick round lenses that belonged to the teacher, Mrs. Arwa, who welcomed me into the class by saying, [1]“Tu pouves venir et asseoir.” Not knowing what on earth she said, I just smiled anxiously and quickly made my way to one of the open seats at the back of the class. The class was already in session before my untimely arrival. My eyes were perpetually scanning the blackboard in search of some understanding as to what was about to occur. But there was nothing on there but the date. There was a strong sense of uncertainty that raced through my mind. What I experienced next was far more confusing than anything I had heard before. Mrs. Arwa started bolting out questions, in what I thought may as well be parceltongue, to random students. To my horror, each and every student was answering her in the same mysterious dialect that Mrs. Arwa was using. To the rest of the class, it was probably an everyday discussion that triggered learning through participation. But to me, the class was a melody of gibberish. I tried to recall some words I had heard before… but [2]‘nada’.
My feeling about “entering a whole new world” had completely backfired, leaving me perplexed. I felt as if I had drowned in a sea of foreign culture, but the thing was I had no idea what culture I was in. I realized that maybe I had entered a different world from the one that I expected to be in. I decided to try to figure out for myself what exactly was happening. I started searching for clues. I began to think about various different cultures and tried to relate it to the conversations that were being held in class. I at once ruled out English and Indian culture because I familiar with them and was sure we were not discussing Queen Victoria or the kings of the Mughal period. But using a trial and error system felt like a tedious task. Then a question came to my mind: How can I identify a certain language without knowing anything about the given language culture?
[3]“Ce qui est ton endroit préféré en France”, said Mrs. Arwa suddenly, in a louder voice that completely interfered with my train of thought. She seemed to be looking at me. Luckily, the girl sitting next to me, spoke in class for the first time.
[4]“J’aime la tour d’Eiffel”, she said really enthusiastically. That line rang in my head like a siren. It was clear to me. Finally. The Eiffel Tower. The language being spoken was French! I was in a French class. Not Spanish.
Initially I felt like I had no brains for doing something so silly. But then it hit me. I discovered something that day… Culture plays an important role in identifying a language. I did not understand a word of what was happening in class, but as soon as a piece of culture that I knew about was mentioned, I could relate and figure out what language was being spoken.
But was that enough?
I thought to myself, this is not always true. People could be talking about anything in any language. Suppose you hear someone saying “Zeus” in a foreign language, the language doesn’t necessary have to be Greek. Although there is a high chance of it being Greek, one cannot be positively sure.
I pondered over the identification of many languages this way. I began to think about written matter. Many languages use English alphabet as they all were derived from Latin. Those texts would be easily distinguishable for me.
But how could I tell the difference between Chinese and Japanese without knowing how to write it?
TRING!!! TRING!!! TRING!!!
Suddenly, the constant buzz of the classroom was overcome by the sound of a bell. The lecture was over. Everyone in the class knew it. Even I knew it. And there was no speaking involved. The bell was like a universal “language”. There was no deep hidden culture to it. It was just a simple way of communication. Everyone in the class understood it no matter what language they spoke.
As I walked out of that classroom, even though I did not understand ninety-nine percent of the class, I felt smarter and more open to the world.
I discovered that day, that having an open mind could be the best form of communication. But is it better than the bell – “the universal language”?
[1] You can come in and sit (in French)
[2] Nothing (in Spanish)
[3] What is your favorite place in France (in French)
[4] I love the Eiffel Tower (in French)
I heard the faint sound inside the classroom as I scurried along the hallway, desperate to reach my first ever, Spanish class in my new school. Although I was slightly familiar with Spanish, I was eager to learn a new language from scratch. It was my first time learning, in class, a language other than English and Hindi. I was filled with curiosity, but I felt a bit intimidated, as if I was stepping across the borders of my nation and entering a whole new world. To a shy fourth grader, this felt like a giant leap of exploration into a new culture. Different from anything I had experienced before.
As I opened the door and peered inside nervously, I saw seventeen pairs of eyes stare at me. I felt intimidated, as if I was a freshwater fish in the vast ocean. I walked in only to see another pair of eyes, behind thick round lenses that belonged to the teacher, Mrs. Arwa, who welcomed me into the class by saying, [1]“Tu pouves venir et asseoir.” Not knowing what on earth she said, I just smiled anxiously and quickly made my way to one of the open seats at the back of the class. The class was already in session before my untimely arrival. My eyes were perpetually scanning the blackboard in search of some understanding as to what was about to occur. But there was nothing on there but the date. There was a strong sense of uncertainty that raced through my mind. What I experienced next was far more confusing than anything I had heard before. Mrs. Arwa started bolting out questions, in what I thought may as well be parceltongue, to random students. To my horror, each and every student was answering her in the same mysterious dialect that Mrs. Arwa was using. To the rest of the class, it was probably an everyday discussion that triggered learning through participation. But to me, the class was a melody of gibberish. I tried to recall some words I had heard before… but [2]‘nada’.
My feeling about “entering a whole new world” had completely backfired, leaving me perplexed. I felt as if I had drowned in a sea of foreign culture, but the thing was I had no idea what culture I was in. I realized that maybe I had entered a different world from the one that I expected to be in. I decided to try to figure out for myself what exactly was happening. I started searching for clues. I began to think about various different cultures and tried to relate it to the conversations that were being held in class. I at once ruled out English and Indian culture because I familiar with them and was sure we were not discussing Queen Victoria or the kings of the Mughal period. But using a trial and error system felt like a tedious task. Then a question came to my mind: How can I identify a certain language without knowing anything about the given language culture?
[3]“Ce qui est ton endroit préféré en France”, said Mrs. Arwa suddenly, in a louder voice that completely interfered with my train of thought. She seemed to be looking at me. Luckily, the girl sitting next to me, spoke in class for the first time.
[4]“J’aime la tour d’Eiffel”, she said really enthusiastically. That line rang in my head like a siren. It was clear to me. Finally. The Eiffel Tower. The language being spoken was French! I was in a French class. Not Spanish.
Initially I felt like I had no brains for doing something so silly. But then it hit me. I discovered something that day… Culture plays an important role in identifying a language. I did not understand a word of what was happening in class, but as soon as a piece of culture that I knew about was mentioned, I could relate and figure out what language was being spoken.
But was that enough?
I thought to myself, this is not always true. People could be talking about anything in any language. Suppose you hear someone saying “Zeus” in a foreign language, the language doesn’t necessary have to be Greek. Although there is a high chance of it being Greek, one cannot be positively sure.
I pondered over the identification of many languages this way. I began to think about written matter. Many languages use English alphabet as they all were derived from Latin. Those texts would be easily distinguishable for me.
But how could I tell the difference between Chinese and Japanese without knowing how to write it?
TRING!!! TRING!!! TRING!!!
Suddenly, the constant buzz of the classroom was overcome by the sound of a bell. The lecture was over. Everyone in the class knew it. Even I knew it. And there was no speaking involved. The bell was like a universal “language”. There was no deep hidden culture to it. It was just a simple way of communication. Everyone in the class understood it no matter what language they spoke.
As I walked out of that classroom, even though I did not understand ninety-nine percent of the class, I felt smarter and more open to the world.
I discovered that day, that having an open mind could be the best form of communication. But is it better than the bell – “the universal language”?
[1] You can come in and sit (in French)
[2] Nothing (in Spanish)
[3] What is your favorite place in France (in French)
[4] I love the Eiffel Tower (in French)