Sorry seems to be the most useful word

Christmas Eatings Style never goes out of fashion

Sorry seems to be the most useful word

Just to avoid any confusion (too late!), this isn’t harking back to my post on the perfect apology. Unless of course you’ve made an absolute boo-boo in another country. Or another language.

Which happens.

My classic example. I was on an exchange visit with school sometime in the last century. Being a teenager, I had very strong opinions on e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g. – especially anything I didn’t know anything about. I think that’s how opinions work in humans, and I was desperately trying to seem ‘normal’ -especially as I was away from home. But, oh boy, did I get it wrong.

So, yes, I was in Brittany, one of the most glorious places I’ve ever been to. So much nicer than I felt Great Britain (we don’t use the ‘Great’ much, obvs) was at the time, due to all sorts of political and social shenanigans that were ensuing. One evening, there was a family dinner, and the grandmother (who embodied “grand” in every way possible) asked me how I liked “Bretagne“. I said I didn’t really like it very much.

Stunned silence.

And then it hit me.

Grand Bretagne = (Great) Britain

Bretagne = Brittany

There was some Olympic standard back-pedalling on that one .

So…

Today, I’m talking about learning languages. Have you ever seen the film Orlando? There is a wonderful quote in there that encapsulates a lot of humans’ attitude to learning languages.

[speaking in French]Princess Sasha: You speak French?Orlando: A bit. But most of the English can’t… don’t want to speak other languages.Princess Sasha: But how do they communicate with foreigners?Orlando: They speak English louder.

I refuse to go anywhere where I can’t speak at least some of the language. For example, I went for a long weekend in Estonia and I managed to get down the basics of the language in the space of a week.

What are the most useful words to have?

There are some words that are just very, very useful to have and you should have them in as many languages as possible. These are:

Yes/No

Please

Thank you.

I’m sorry.

And the jewel in the crown… “I don’t speak(add name of language).” You may want to add a “very well“ into this if you’re feeling brave.

For me, knowing some of the language is the cultural equivalent of going into a house for the first time without being invited in. I just can’t do it.

Oh yes, that thing of vampires needing to be invited in?

It’s actually true.

This does backfire on me occasionally. Given my tendency for chameleon behaviour and attempts to mask/hide, I also tend to pick up accents very regularly, and without any effort. It just happens automatically. It’s a bit like the way your mobile phone hops onto the local network when you cross borders.

(Fun trivia, when I speak German, I sound like I’m from Westphalia; Spanish, it’s Catalunya; French, then I sound Belgian, well, duhhh; there are others.)

Aside – I remember one place I worked at there was someone who had a very distinctive Midlands accent. Within minutes of meeting her, I picked up her accent and one day, she said to me that I was taking the mick (making fun) of the way she talked. To be honest, I had no idea I was doing it. It’s just an automatic thing.

Anyway, back to what I was saying…

… this whole thing of picking up accents has other drawbacks in that sometimes when I say “Sorry I don’t speak very well”, I unfortunately sound like I actually speak the language very well.

For instance, when I went to Spain once, somebody asked me (in Spanish) where some building or other was to which I replied, also in (apparently perfect) Spanish, (don’t forget, I have ADHD which is a very common vampire thing but it means that I speak at 50 miles an hour. ) “I’m sorry, I only know a few words in Spanish.”

Unfortunately, my proficient use of that one phrase convinced them that I was, in fact, fluent and off they went, rattling off this torrent of Spanish of which I understood possibly one word in 10. I stared at them, stunned. Luckily, they just thought I was stupid rather than not fluent and they quickly left and left me in peace. So a win on all counts. Possibly not for them, though…

[image error]Pexels.com" data-medium-file="https://everydayvampire.wordpress.com..." data-large-file="https://everydayvampire.wordpress.com..." width="867" height="1300" src="https://everydayvampire.wordpress.com..." alt="" class="wp-image-1994" style="width:460px;height:auto" srcset="https://everydayvampire.wordpress.com... 867w, https://everydayvampire.wordpress.com... 100w, https://everydayvampire.wordpress.com... 200w, https://everydayvampire.wordpress.com... 768w" sizes="(max-width: 867px) 100vw, 867px" />When you talk at 50 miles per hour… (Photo by KoolShooters on Pexels.com)

Having said all that, I do like learning languages just for the fun of it. Not that I’m bringing up politics at all because I don’t do politics. But in the nation where I live, you have some small-minded individuals who don’t believe they can share resources with their fellow humans (the actual country I live in is not like that at all, apart from some of the people who have moves in). But there is one particular country that is not currently at peace and there are superpowers that are playing with its fate like a dog with a chew toy.

Let’s go so far as to say that some of these… individuals (I will not insult them but just be aware – I’m thinking it) protesting about persons from this beleaguered nation entering ours. As my own spot of rebellion, I have taken to learning their language so that, should our paths cross, I will hopefully be able to say something to them in their own language. It’s nothing more than politeness for me.

Another language I’m learning is Japanese. I’ve had a fascination with Japan since the last century but did not have the means to learn it. It is a wonderful logical language which appeals to me greatly. Fun fact – did you know that Japanese and German have very similar, almost identical sentence structure?

Also, like in German, Japanese has this wonderful way of stitching words together to create something absolutely unique. For example in Japanese, you have the word “Kuchisabishii“, which literally translates to lonely mouth. It means when you aren’t hungry, but you’re eating becauseyour mouth is lonely.

Similarly, in German, you have the word –das Fingerspitzengefühl, which literally translates to fingertip feeling, and means to have tactfulness; an intuitive flair or instinct for something.

Now, while I may never visit either that other country or Japan, I do like watching Japanese horror and it’s very rewarding to actually be able to pick up the old word here or there while I’m watching. A good example is, while watching Ringu (which is not pronounced Ring-Goo it’s pronounced ring with a very short ‘uh’ sound. Like, if you’re a fan of big monster movies, it is not pronounced Kye-Joo, it’s pronounced Kye-j/uh), I was able to pick out the word family in the first couple of minutes.

That gave me enough dopamine to actually smile.

So, in conclusion I would exalt anyone who is going to a place that speaks a language other than what you usually speak, please, please, please, try to get at least a few words of the language under your belt. Referring back to that quote from Orlando, don’t be that guy.

Oh, and talking about talking, you’ll notice that I haven’t been putting my social media link on here anymore. There’s quite a simple reason for this. I don’t go there anymore. I like my free speech spelt F.R.E.E. and not H.A.T.E. which, sadly, seems to be the case over there. As a result, I have relinquished my place in the world of antisocial media. But! You can still read my diaries in full below. Those things are still there.

Until next time…

For anyone wanting to read all my rants in one place – including all-new exclusive stuff, then click below!

Volume 1 of my diary – why not start at the very beginning?

Volume 2 – more rants, musings and fairly useful advice

Volume 3 – things are afoot! The thot plickens…

View more on Thérésa Hedges's website »

Like • 0 comments • flag