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I started school this week. I'm in an "advanced beginners" German for Auslanders course. Because we're from everywhere (Kosovo, Poland, Chile, The Phillipines, Brazil, Slovenia, and this lone American) we communicate with each other in an awkward, yet determined German or English. I sat next to a friendly woman from Kosovo who reminded me, not intentionally, of an old joke.
What do you call someone who speaks lots of langauges: Multilingual
What do you call someone who speaks two langagues? Bilingual.
What do you call someone who speaks only one? American.
She had worked with a number of Americans when she lived in Kosovo and had yet to meet one that spoke anything but English. Acting with unusual restraint, I did not tell her that I'd studied French and Spanish, and used to have a near fluent command of modern Hebrew. I just said that I had taken a German course in the US and that when I was in high school in California, a second language was not required - unlike in Europe.
If you're interesteted in statistics, there's a study here, but perhaps it will suffice to repeat the title: Half of Europe's Citizens Know 2 Languages. With that in mind, I'd like to introduce you to a couple of bilingual bloggers.
Em Duas Linguas (Portugal) has a thought provoking post about what happens when you blog in two langagues. This post has lots of links to other bloggers in Portugal, including a link to the essential Vitriolica.
Natsu's bilingual journal is in Spanish and English. Her most recent post is a review of Memoirs of a Geisha - en espanol. I'm so ashamed. I'm lucky if I can describe my day in another language much less editorialize about a movie!
Image from sofiascapeMeanwhile in Bulgaria, Gena of Frolicsome is teaching English at a Roma middle school. She calls herself monolingual, but she's being modest.
"text" she shouted as she ushered him out of the classroom. You speak in Bulgarian and you study English!!!
In closing, I hope you'll indulge my vanity link to a story about a dinner party in four languages. This experience embodies, for me, both the frustration and beauty of living at the base of the Tower of Babel.
