That pesky language barrier
Lets start with some history.
English is not my first language. It's tied for second. French being my first language and Turkish and English being second. The phrase "use it or lose it" is very accurate. I've lost almost all Turkish. While I am still verbally bilingual, I find myself struggling with french if I'm away from it too long. I don't speak french often. Usually its only when I call my grandmother (who doesn't speak english well) or at Maternal family gatherings. Most are Quebec seperatists who refuse to speak english even if they can.
Saturday evening we travelled to Montreal for a funeral. My great aunt passed away last week and although we weren't close, she was my Grandmothers sister and best friend. I felt that I should attend in respect for the family and in support of my grandmother. The wake/service was held in an enormous Catholic church/ moseleum and it was packed with people. At least 200 of my 'cousins' were in attendance and perhaps 5 spoke english. The service was easy as no one actually spoke to each other. Once the reception began, I got nervous. I had to speak french all evening with no real practice in months. Being a french funeral there was plenty of wine and cheese available and so indulged. I figured a couple glasses of wine would loosen my tongue and enable me to converse in french.
I had not seen some of my family in over 20 years so my grandmother introduced me
to them one by one. To each person she said " Elle et sa filles de Francine" meaning
She is the daughter of Francine ( My Mother) Because it had been so long, they looked confused so I would add..."La grosse filles de Francine" meaning the eldest daughter of Francine, figuring this way they wouldn't confuse me with my younger sister. When I said this, most looked at me oddly and I assumed this was because
they were surprised at how much older I was.
Later that evening, one of my Great uncles pulled me aside and in English asked what I was telling people. I told him " La grosse filles de Francine" He laughed, hugged me and said " It's la GRANDE filles de Francine" His reply made me laugh so hard I thought I was going to pee my pants right there in the middle of the reception.
I had spent the entire evening telling everyone that I was the fat daughter
English is not my first language. It's tied for second. French being my first language and Turkish and English being second. The phrase "use it or lose it" is very accurate. I've lost almost all Turkish. While I am still verbally bilingual, I find myself struggling with french if I'm away from it too long. I don't speak french often. Usually its only when I call my grandmother (who doesn't speak english well) or at Maternal family gatherings. Most are Quebec seperatists who refuse to speak english even if they can.
Saturday evening we travelled to Montreal for a funeral. My great aunt passed away last week and although we weren't close, she was my Grandmothers sister and best friend. I felt that I should attend in respect for the family and in support of my grandmother. The wake/service was held in an enormous Catholic church/ moseleum and it was packed with people. At least 200 of my 'cousins' were in attendance and perhaps 5 spoke english. The service was easy as no one actually spoke to each other. Once the reception began, I got nervous. I had to speak french all evening with no real practice in months. Being a french funeral there was plenty of wine and cheese available and so indulged. I figured a couple glasses of wine would loosen my tongue and enable me to converse in french.
I had not seen some of my family in over 20 years so my grandmother introduced me
to them one by one. To each person she said " Elle et sa filles de Francine" meaning
She is the daughter of Francine ( My Mother) Because it had been so long, they looked confused so I would add..."La grosse filles de Francine" meaning the eldest daughter of Francine, figuring this way they wouldn't confuse me with my younger sister. When I said this, most looked at me oddly and I assumed this was because
they were surprised at how much older I was.
Later that evening, one of my Great uncles pulled me aside and in English asked what I was telling people. I told him " La grosse filles de Francine" He laughed, hugged me and said " It's la GRANDE filles de Francine" His reply made me laugh so hard I thought I was going to pee my pants right there in the middle of the reception.
I had spent the entire evening telling everyone that I was the fat daughter
posted by Sandi at 9:22 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home