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Foreign language mastery. Close maybe, still no cigar [1]
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Date: 2023-11-07
Who ever heard of speaking a foreign language, but not understanding what one is saying?
As a case in point, there is a scene in the movie Rush Hour 2 where Chris Tucker attempts to speak Cantonese to two Chinese women sitting in a car next to the one he and Jackie Chan are sitting in while waiting for the traffic signal light in question to turn green. Tucker, or rather his character Cutter, puts his foot in his mouth when he winds up saying something in Cantonese that makes no sense. Chan, or rather his character Lee, has to explain to Cutter just what it was Cutter said. Cutter, playing the part of a police officer in the movie, definitely did what he does best; and that is, to make himself look like an idiot, which, he did, very masterfully.
So when I was younger and attended public school, I so wanted to take a foreign language, and I picked French. I have to admit I didn’t do very well in it and, in looking back, I’m not sure how I even passed class, not one, not two, but three times: First year, second year and third year French.
This wasn’t the first and only foreign language I ever tried to learn. Hebrew was the first and I don’t know why I even bothered as I know that for me to try to learn Hebrew was a total waste of my time and no doubt my parents’ money. Time is money.
So then comes Bar Mitzvah time and to prove that I had become of age, I had to give a speech, yes in Hebrew. You’re probably wondering (or maybe not or maybe you’re indifferent to the matter) as to how I pulled that one off. I tell you it wasn’t easy, but I did it.
So, here is how. My parents hired a tutor to not teach me how to read, which I didn’t, but to recite it and recite it I did, for something that seemed like a thousand times. No fun.
So, reciting something over and over and over again, even though I may have sounded like I knew what I was talking about, ahem, excuse me, reciting about, I actually had not a clue.
But I guess that part didn’t matter, because as I sounded like I knew what I was reciting, apparently that’s all that mattered. I sure was relieved when that was all over with.
So, I’ll stick with what I know best which is English, but you may want to take that with a grain of salt, because saying I know English really isn’t saying much.
And, having said that, at this point I’m guessing the less I say, the better. I feel like I’ve said too much already.
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