CULTURE SHOCK! CULTURE SHOCK!
"One place I'm not prepared to travel to is China! I have heard that not many people can converse in English over there, how will I be able to survive over there and discover more about the country and its people?" That is what one of my friends claimed to be her reason to not tour around China. It is a preconceived notion by many, that unless one can speak the language that another speaks, it is impossible to communicate with a person from another nationality or learn about and understand their culture and customs.
Be it interacting with people from different cultures while on a cruise on the Nile, bargaining with an old lady in a crowded byway in Shanghai, staying in a tent in Masai-Mara, or even while volunteering for a week at an animal protection organization in Cambodia; I have truly had multiple opportunities to interact with people from different cultures with whom I could not converse with in a mutual language. However, the biggest challenge I faced was when I went to boarding school in Singapore and resided with people representing about sixty-five different nationalities, of which many did not share Hindi or English as their first languages. I experienced a number of multilingualism related experiences whilst studying in Singapore which influenced my thoughts on the connection between the language and culture of a place and led me to question whether language can act as a hurdle whilst forging relationships with people from other cultures.
It was my first day at boarding school. I was in the midst of unpacking my suitcases when a girl wearing a pair of jean dungarees over a green top paired with green and blue high-top converse entered. She was a tall and fair brunette- some might say, a taller version of me. She immediately said, "Holla!!! I am Itamar from Mehico!" Wait. What was 'Mehico'? It took me a few minutes to realize that she had meant Mexico! She went on to tell me that she was not a fluent English speaker and that Spanish was her first language. On hearing that, I was taken aback. I was thousands of miles away from home, in a new country, a new city, a new school with new people of whom I didn't know anyone and my roommate and I did not share a mutual language? How would I spend a year with a person with whom I didn't even share a mutual language? We came from opposite parts of the globe and did not even have a way to communicate with ease. Indeed, I was worried stiff! For the first few days we did not talk much; she spent most of her time with the rest of the Latinos as they all spoke Spanish and I made friends with whom I could communicate in English, or with those who could speak in Hindi, indeed I then understood what people mean when they say that speaking in your mother tongue, in any part of the world can at once make you feel like you're back at home. However, when you're sharing a room with someone, it is impossible not to communicate with them. We would soon try talking to each other and I learned to speak slowly and make an effort to understand what Itamar was saying. Gradually Itamar asked me to correct her whenever she made a mistake while speaking. Two months into the term and Itamar and I would be sitting on her bed, at 2 in the morning attempting to familiarize each other with our respective cultures. Every second sentence ended with either of us exclaiming "Culture shock! Culture shock!” While she was an alien to the Indian custom of arranged marriages, where the bride and groom are matched by their families and remain unknown to each other until the marriage ceremony, to me the idea of a society where men and women were treated equally was fascinating and we soon realized that it wasn't just our countries that were thousands of miles apart but our languages and culture were also extremely different. It was through conversations like these that I got accustomed to the Mexican tradition of "Dia de Muertos" or Day of the Dead and Itamar learnt Hindi phrases such as "Aap Kaisay ho?" (How are you?) or "Mera naan Itamar hai!" (My name is Itamar!). I was told stories about Mexican culture and the sheer glint of Spanish influence could be seen especially in the language. Looking back, it was experiences like this that made me understand that it is not impossible to communicate with someone who doesn't speak a language similar to that of yours or more so, to converse with them, get to know more about them, their culture and their country. Language is not a barrier but a portal to understanding a country or civilization’s history and culture.
Be it interacting with people from different cultures while on a cruise on the Nile, bargaining with an old lady in a crowded byway in Shanghai, staying in a tent in Masai-Mara, or even while volunteering for a week at an animal protection organization in Cambodia; I have truly had multiple opportunities to interact with people from different cultures with whom I could not converse with in a mutual language. However, the biggest challenge I faced was when I went to boarding school in Singapore and resided with people representing about sixty-five different nationalities, of which many did not share Hindi or English as their first languages. I experienced a number of multilingualism related experiences whilst studying in Singapore which influenced my thoughts on the connection between the language and culture of a place and led me to question whether language can act as a hurdle whilst forging relationships with people from other cultures.
It was my first day at boarding school. I was in the midst of unpacking my suitcases when a girl wearing a pair of jean dungarees over a green top paired with green and blue high-top converse entered. She was a tall and fair brunette- some might say, a taller version of me. She immediately said, "Holla!!! I am Itamar from Mehico!" Wait. What was 'Mehico'? It took me a few minutes to realize that she had meant Mexico! She went on to tell me that she was not a fluent English speaker and that Spanish was her first language. On hearing that, I was taken aback. I was thousands of miles away from home, in a new country, a new city, a new school with new people of whom I didn't know anyone and my roommate and I did not share a mutual language? How would I spend a year with a person with whom I didn't even share a mutual language? We came from opposite parts of the globe and did not even have a way to communicate with ease. Indeed, I was worried stiff! For the first few days we did not talk much; she spent most of her time with the rest of the Latinos as they all spoke Spanish and I made friends with whom I could communicate in English, or with those who could speak in Hindi, indeed I then understood what people mean when they say that speaking in your mother tongue, in any part of the world can at once make you feel like you're back at home. However, when you're sharing a room with someone, it is impossible not to communicate with them. We would soon try talking to each other and I learned to speak slowly and make an effort to understand what Itamar was saying. Gradually Itamar asked me to correct her whenever she made a mistake while speaking. Two months into the term and Itamar and I would be sitting on her bed, at 2 in the morning attempting to familiarize each other with our respective cultures. Every second sentence ended with either of us exclaiming "Culture shock! Culture shock!” While she was an alien to the Indian custom of arranged marriages, where the bride and groom are matched by their families and remain unknown to each other until the marriage ceremony, to me the idea of a society where men and women were treated equally was fascinating and we soon realized that it wasn't just our countries that were thousands of miles apart but our languages and culture were also extremely different. It was through conversations like these that I got accustomed to the Mexican tradition of "Dia de Muertos" or Day of the Dead and Itamar learnt Hindi phrases such as "Aap Kaisay ho?" (How are you?) or "Mera naan Itamar hai!" (My name is Itamar!). I was told stories about Mexican culture and the sheer glint of Spanish influence could be seen especially in the language. Looking back, it was experiences like this that made me understand that it is not impossible to communicate with someone who doesn't speak a language similar to that of yours or more so, to converse with them, get to know more about them, their culture and their country. Language is not a barrier but a portal to understanding a country or civilization’s history and culture.
Cultures can be extremely diverse, as can languages. A particular term can have a specific meaning in one language but when translated, can be of no significant value to a person speaking another language. There were a number of Latinos in our boarding house, ranging from Mexico to Chile, Colombia to Uruguay. The one particular thing they all had in common was their mother tongue. All of them spoke Spanish. At one particular period of time, all my Latino friends started using the term "tresay-tresay" or "13-13" and on nearly every occasion there was an inside Latino joke using the term "13-13"; whether it be while we were sitting in the common room and talking about our day at school, getting dinner at the local food court opposite the school drive-way or even on a Facebook post! As an Indian, I did not understand this as "13-13" translated into English means "thirteen-thirteen" and into Hindi could either mean "thirteen-thirteen" or "yours-yours" and this made no sense to me. I wasn't sure if I should ask my roommate to tell me what it meant- it could have meant something completely obvious, which I had missed! I pondered over it for a while and felt left out of conversations at times when "tresay-tresay" would come up. I soon realized that I wasn't the only one who didn't realize what the term meant but also some of my other friends who were not Latino. Ultimately, I gave up and asked my roommate what it meant. She casually laughed and told me it was a Chilean term for the more contemporary gesture of, "wink-wink, nudge-nudge" and that was the reason why the Latinos used it! Hence, I realized that culture could be essential in understanding a language. Being from a different culture and speaking a different language, I was at first unable to understand this terminology however, once explained the cultural background of the term, I was able to understand the meaning. Indeed, previously, I thought that being a term only used by Latinos, it excluded the rest of us from certain conversations. However, my perspective changed once I understood the meaning of "tresay-tresay" or "13-13" (as they typed it out as), I was able to use it in conversations too! In fact, all of us would use it in our conversations, and it acted as a medium to bring us all closer. Till today, we use this term in our conversations. Although we are in different cities, countries or even continents, it is a common term I as an Indian, my friend as an Indonesian, another friend as a Dutch and many more of us, still use.
Indeed, many say language acts as a barrier. However, I disagree. Through my experiences while interacting with people from different cultures, I have come to realize that language acts as a portal. It tells us about the history of a particular place as can be seen in Mexican culture where the official language is Spanish, a language originating from Spain, and being spoken by Mexicans for the sole reason that they governed by Spanish for a substantial period of time; thereby, signifying that language can provide us with a cultural perspective. Language is conceived to be a hurdle to relationship formation but through my experiences, I have come to realize that language may aid in fostering relationships. Languages tell us about the diversity of a place. As an Indian, I come from a country known for its diversity with over twenty-eight states and seven Union Territories, where every one of these states has a noteworthy difference from the others due to its language and culture and fostering over fifteen languages. It is through my experiences that I have begun contemplating on the significance on languages, questioning the interlink between languages and cultures and whether it is languages that aid to foster relationships among world citizens who have not only been divided by borders, but by their unique cultures and history as well.
Living Multilingualism by Avantika Makar is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.