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The Tower of Babble ' is a bright entry from SF writer Pam, which delves into multilingualism from an American perspective. "Multilingualism opens doors to relationships that might not otherwise be possible" writes rightfully Pam. Thanks for checking us out!
4 comments:
Thanks for the mention - and I'm really glad you like the post. I'm not actually a SF writer, I'm from Seattle and live sometimes in Austria where I struggle with German.
I used to fancy myself quite the polyglot, but when I found myself sharing my life with The Austrian, everything flew out the window as I learned German. I would love to recover my French, for example... though maybe living in a multilingual community where I got to USE all those other words would help me recover some of them.
:)
I read Pam's post and agree that speaking more than one language opens doors to relationships that might not otherwise be possible. I would add, not only to relationships and families but also to the world as a whole. Therefore, I never liked to limit myself to one (extra) language. Even though English is the dominant language in my work I have always loved to speak French or Spanish as well -- it's a different world, not only different words.
Pam, thanks for the clarification, someow I gathered from your blog that you lived in SF!
Do you ever consider moving to Europe permanently? Although, the beauty of the US is that you have the melting pot right at your feet...looking forward to reading you more!
Giovanni, don't you think that by speaking other languages we also give life to a different side of ourselves? Each language has its soul, doesn't it? Do you feel the same when you speak Spanish or English?
Oh Clo, very much so! Look at my face, my gestures and the position of my body when I speak English, and when I speak Spanish (or the little bit of Italian I speak), and you will be surprised... Of course, I exaggerate, but the feeling is different, the sound, the emotion... everything. Of course, I've cultivated this. And you know what is my favourite language? Yes, you know.
The other thing is the joy of speaking a language. I happen to enjoy commenting on your blog, in English, the language I do not like very much... Maybe it's different because I know you are Italian.
Language is a strane and wonderful thing... let's dance (this has more to do with the dancing of language in my head than anything else; moreover, dancing may be a bit difficult for you at this moment... how many weeks or days away from...)
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