Stupid Babel!
We try to do our job to share our language and culture with the students as best we can. But sometimes you get a reminder of the immensity of what those two little words--"language" and "culture"--actually represent. Take last Saturday. We went to the neighborhood English corner. The format of the corner has changed over the months. Right now the format is that Marty, the leader, reads a fairy tale through twice, and then the students pair off and try to tell the tale to each other. Marty does his best to speak slowly and simplify the tale, explaining those terms that are essential to the tale. (like "chinny-chin-chin") After the students retell the story, Marty gives the kids a chance to tell one of their own fairy tales (in English) and then, if there's time left, he does something to fill the time. It could be yet another retelling of the main tale or going on to a different story.Anyway, last Saturday he told the tale of Br'er Rabbit and the Tar Baby. He did quite a good job of it, pantomiming some actions and all that. As the hour wore on, we reached the point where we had some time to kill. So Marty had decided to tell the tale again, but this time he wasn't going to clean up the dialect. There is some value to this. Basically we are out in the sticks and many people do not speak Mandarin, or Putonghua the same way they do in Beijing. (One fellow expatriate actually wondered how valuable it was for us to even study proper Putonghua, living where we are.) So Marty thought that telling the tale in it's original Dixie-hua might illustrate how English, too, has its different dialects. Well, Mr. Marty sure painted a pretty picture. He's from Atlanta and his retelling of Br'er Rabbit was a wonder to behold. He cut loose and gave a retelling that flowed from the heart. It was also pretty much incomprehensible to the students there.
The reality is, what we share with the folks here is fraught with limitations. There are barriers of language, cultural knowledge, life experience. We can share the plotline of a basic folk tale, for example, but even then you have to strip out the little nuances of culture and language which makes the story come to life. Of course, that goes both ways. Even if we learn enough Chinese to carry on a simple conversation, I doubt we will ever be able to sit back and truly appreciate a Chinese folk tale as would a native speaker. At most we'll probably only get a glimpse of the people amongst whom we're living. ... sigh. Oh, well. I guess even a glimpse is better than nothing.
posted by John @ 7:49 PM
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