Language

I have a fantasy: One day, not tomorrow, and certainly not before I leave Senegal, I fantasize that I will have an intimate dialogue—intelligent, emotional, rapid-fire, intense, and logical— in French.

As I have attempted to absorb some language French language skills, starting in New York at the French Institute Alliance Francais (FIAF) and continuing here with everyday conversation at chez Cretin-Oliveira, I have arrived at deep respect for those anyone who masters another tongue.

My guess is that many of you know people who speak other languages or have studied them. (Didn’t we all have to take a language in high school and/or college?) My friend David, who grew up in Oklahoma but moved to Amsterdam after graduating from university, speaks German, Dutch, French, English and Spanish…I think that’s all. My friend Angelo speaks Italian, French, German and English (owns a translation service). All of my Dutch friends speak fabulous English because they studied it K-12. Even the structural engineer who is working with us on the hospital project is Senegalese but speaks fluent Chinese!

I’m thinking about this because last night I had the pleasure of meeting with my teacher from the FIAF, from whom I took two courses before leaving for Senegal. It was wonderful to see Ann, who is here in Dakar teaching smart board technology at the French Cultural Institute. (Don’t know what a smart board is? Imagine a white board, not blackboard, that is actually a computer screen hooked to the internet and a teaching data base, as well as a blackboard. Imagine a student makes an observation about a movie, and the teacher uses the board to search for a trailer on the internet and shows it to the class. Imagine copies of all the notes that were written on the board being downloadable after the class. Imagine how the world opens up beyond the classroom!) Ann is teaching other teachers how to use smart board technology in order that they might improve their teaching competencies.

Ann is a quintessential Parisienne…petite, stylish, lovely, smart, quick, funny, decisive. I liked her as a teacher, as did many of us who started French 101 together. Some of my classmates stayed with Ann through eight months and four levels of lessons. Her ability and ease with language—like that of my friends or even a stranger who has picked up English enough to give me directions in downtown Dakar—is remarkable. She speaks English without having to search for the right word or the proper grammatical construction. English is at her command, as it is for Nathalie, for the guy who runs the café at the beach, for recently arrived new immigrants who are determined to learn to speak the language of their new home.

I think about my grandmother’s parents—Grandpa and Grandma Dietz—who lived in Galatia, Kansas. They were immigrants to the US from Germany in the late 19^th century. Grandpa Dietz learned English, probably because he had business affairs that required it and he was out in the community meeting other farmers and having opportunities to practice. Grandma Dietz stayed at home. She understood English, but did not speak it. As a child, I was frightened of her, didn’t know how to get close to her, wondered what she was saying about me, and wished I could trust her. She just wasn’t as available emotionally or intellectually as Grandpa Dietz. The parallel to my situation here in Dakar is too obvious to ignore.

This morning I have deep respect for those who make themselves vulnerable and are willing to make mistakes when learning a new language. And I’m grateful that they are making it possible to create understanding, to lower the barriers between themselves and others, to increase the likelihood that something good can happen.