My life seems to be an inevitable mix of French and English recently- comes with the territory I suppose. Sometimes I find myself most comfortable speaking in a sort of mix, letting the words fall out as they may, in either language. Some things just have a better ring to them in French, or a sharper bite in English. Tonight was an extension of this recent language mix I’ve been experiencing- I met and dined with a Franco-American couple living in Beaune. The woman is an English teacher (nationality: French) I’ll soon start working with, who invited me over to her apartment as a sort of meet-n-greet. After we discussed our class for awhile, her boyfriend came home from work and introduced himself- an American from Pennsylvania, who works at a well-known wine exporter based in Beaune. I have a special place in my heart for French-American couples : ) so most of our conversation was based around that. Something I found even more intriguing, was the fact that both of their parents were also French-American, having met/lived in/traveled extensively in both countries. A French-American couple with two sets of French-American parents. Dis donc !
The mix of languages in something I believe will continually intrigue me- the limits and strengths of a language, the constant pull and push between words and how they work in your brain to express your feelings. Is there an ideal language based on personality ? What if you grow up and find your ideal language is not your own ? Can you 100 % express yourself in a language that is not your mother tongue ?
Intéressant.
No comments:
Post a Comment