Speaking in Tongues, Partie Deux

Knowing multiple languages is key in understanding other cultures, let alone the person. I also feel that it makes the person stronger in many other facets of life, and opens many other avenues in possible career opportunities and other small situations one might face in the future.

What irritates me the most is when some people ask, what use is it for me to know other languages in the USA? Some Indian parents tend not to teach their kids their mother tongue with that same excuse, "What benefit will it bring?".

Well I have benefited in a way, since I am multi-lingual. Speaking English and Marathi, and learning French while in school has added to my experience in life.

Me knowing English is trivial in American society, but Marathi and French have been key for me. My knowledge of Marathi enabled me to get a waiver in college for 'Foreign Language' studies (although I kind of regret that now since I want to learn more languages). It also helps me communicate with my relatives back in India. It also enables me to understand if people are talking about me behind my back. I have at times surprised people in making them realize that I had perfectly understood what they were saying, by simply responding to them in Marathi. Likewise, it has also helped me and some of my friends in switching our conversations to the language so others around us wouldn't understand what we were saying. We still tend to do it.

But the other important thing about knowing Marathi is that I can understand my culture. Without me knowing the language, I don't think I would know a lot about my heritage, people, or its traditions.

Knowing these things in a way, brings about pride and an identity to oneself.

French on the other hand has helped me quite a few times. My trips to France and Quebec really showed me that I was lucky to know the language.

If you have gone to Charles De Gaulle airport in Paris, you know it is one of the pinnacles of chaos in airports around the world. The information you get for your flights is quite bad, and no one speaks in English, or rather should I say, wants to speak it even if they know it. A question in English might yield an "Eh?" or some half-hearted answer. There are exceptions to that, with some being very helpful, but a lot of people tend to be proud that they are French.

As I once was going through on transit, I had to find some info about my next flight. Some people in front of me inquired in English with the gate attendant about their next destination. They were going to the same place as I was. The attendant with a frown on her face, in perfect French-accented English said, "I don't know. Go to the information desk and find out from them!"

Nervously, I approached the attendant, and followed to ask the same question, but in French. She immediately responded with a broad smile giving me details on the gate number, the directions to the gate, and the customary, "Have a good flight". She knew most likely I wasn't a Francophone, but it seemed she was very happy that I asked her the question in her native tongue.

Similarly in Quebec, knowing French came in handy, even though the language is a little different from the one you learnt in school. As I had gone on a week long trip to Montreal with my cousin, we came across parts of the cosmopolitan city which were more in tune with French than with English. Communication wasn't so hard as people spoke enough English to get by, but a little use of French really came a long way at times. Although this was true in Montreal, it was totally a different story outside of the city.

We took a day trip on Greyline Tours to Quebec City, where on the way we stopped at a family owned roadside restaurant. The couple that owned the place had no knowledge of English, and only spoke in French. Any person who would ask the couple a question would be promptly pointed to their young teenage daughter who was sitting at the register. The girl was the only one in the family who spoke in English.

As typical as some of us Americans are flabbergasted when someone doesn't speak English when expected (or as one expects), they started to ask the bus driver how on earth this could be in Canada? The driver, a Quebecois, laughed and said that this is what Quebec is with the exception of Montreal and some parts of Quebec City. The rest of Quebec ONLY speaks French. He added that it was the youth of nowadays that were becoming multi-lingual, as they are seeking opportunities outside of Quebec, and even Canada.

But it is quite a culture shock, as you feel you are not in Canada any longer.

My take, we should learn more languages, especially at a younger age, as they are beneficial to us. I feel that every kid in this country should be bilingual from an early age, like the way it is in Europe and India. I think the impact of Spanish will bring about that change in when languages are taught in school.

You never know when that 'other tongue' will come in handy.