by Virginia Mc Veigh

Created on: July 06, 2008   Last Updated: May 30, 2009

In the beginning was the word. And God saw that the word was good. And indeed the word is good. Language is a gift. A gift from God? Well, it certainly singles us out as the only species capable of using this wonderful instrument of communication. We have come a long way since the groaning and grunting days in the cave. It gives us an alternative to hitting someone over the head with something in order to voice a difference of opinion. We have been blessed with the gift of speech. Having language was essential to becoming a highly developed cultural society and for the individual it is a part of who we are, who we like to think we are, and how others see us.

After we have mastered our own native language, the next big challenge is to master somebody elses. Which can be a feat achieved with great ease or great torment - depending on ones disposition. It can also be the cause of hilarious amusement or premature hair loss due to frustration - depending on whether you are the learner or the teacher.

My first encounter with the daunting task of learning a foreign language (apart from the languages which I was forced to learn at school, and forgot with amazing speed) started on the plane on the way from Ireland to Germany in the early seventies. I didn't intend to stay here, but thought it a good idea anyway to at least have some basics : "Sorry I can't speak German", "My fiance was supposed to pick me up", " Can you help me?", "I'm lost" etc. Sounds like I didn't have much faith in my fiance, but I just felt jittery about being in a place where I couldn't speak the language. (He was right on time)

Well that's a long time ago and I still live here, and from that moment on I have continued my studies of the German language and picked it up quickly and after a relatively short time I could speak, read and write fluently. I can never understand how some people don't even try to learn the language of the country in which they live, as apart from being the courteous thing to do, it makes life much easier and more enjoyable. Of course learning a language is not something you can achieve overnight, so it requires patience and endurance , but there are also many funny anecdotes on the way, due to misinterpretations and the great pitfall of trying to translate literally.

In my early days here I unwittingly caused bemused if not confused expressions on the faces of a couple of Jehovah's Witnesses who had visited us a few times and I invited them to have dinner with us next time but used the word "fressen" instead of "essen" = to eat, - "fressen" being only used for animals! And the gaiety that prevailed when asked to guess someones age and my answer came out not as "middle-aged" but "from the Middle Ages". It works the other way too. My brother, on ending a telephone conversation with me and wanting to impress me with his few words of German, wished me a good night with the words "Schlaf brunnen" = sleep well. Too literal, the word "brunnen" means a well or fountain (noun).

I can only advise everyone to learn the language or you'll never get past the stage of using a bottle of shampoo which is really bubble bath. To my amazement, it lasted for ages, and ages and....

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