Languages

I am helping the Husband translate an old German text, written by A. G. Baumgarten, an eighteenth century German philosopher, into English. He often asks me about words, not so much to get a direct translation, because he often has that already, but to get a feel for a certain word. I will use the word in several sentences, give it a context, or describe how or when it would be used. I studied German for many years in school, and have a very solid knowledge of the language, but often it is not my knowledge of German that is the most helpful, but my Swedish origin. It is remarkable how close German is to Swedish. When I hear someone speak German, the two sound nothing alike, but when picking out words, studying them - if I haven’t learned the word my husband is asking about, I can often just find the related Scandinavian version, and trace it right back. It’s fun, although I get frustrated when he prefers the more literal translations; since it’s an academic text, I suppose this is understandable though – just not as pretty. I’m also glad I’m not the one doing it; it’s fun to help here and there and discuss words, but translating every single sentence, covering over 250 pages – no way!

Speaking of languages; in Belgium I knew very few people that spoke less than two languages fluently. Often conversations at work would be held in French and Dutch at the same time, all the while the official corporate language was English, which meant everyone spoke that as well. Here in Egypt I’ve met a lot of Americans that speak nothing but English (and maybe a few words in Arabic), and when the mastery of languages ever comes up in a conversation, I feel embarrassed to reveal my linguistic skills. I will argue that where I come from it’s normal, that this is how Europe has developed into such a peaceful continent (or at least the larger part of it), and that it’s just a natural response to a certain situation. All the person I am talking to hears though, is “seven languages!” (and that’s not counting Arabic, which I’m getting better at, and Spanish, which I’m always trying to learn), so I feel unintentionally boastful, and I don’t like it. I’m not good at a lot of other things. It just so happens that talking – I can do that; I can talk to people, no matter where they’re from.