A while back I commented on the film "Entre les Murs" -- or, as you might know it under its English title "The Class".
In this article, I made this comment: In one scene there is a discussion about the meaning of the word 'honte' -- 'shame'. Each child had a different understanding of the word, depending on his or her background, religion, customs, frame of reference. The teacher -- their language teacher, tried to explain the meaning of the word and soon discovers that the real meaning does not feature in these children's lives -- their individual interpretations have completely changed the word.
This use of words and language and grammar to demonstrate and illustrate one sociological aspect after the other was brilliant. The lack of communication between generations, social strata, backgrounds is illustrated in the subtext, but it illustrates so much more -- not just the lack or difficulty of communication -- also the struggle of a fourteen year old to establish self esteem and self worth and the struggle of a caring teacher to help that process but being confined by a system of norms and mores and customs. The adults who are all well educated teachers do not understand each other but talk past each other -- how would they ever understand the uneducated youngsters who are all from a background completely alien to theirs.
I said 'As a South African' - so why should I be more aware of the importance of language in understanding my neighbours? Well, South Africa is a country where there are eleven official languages (they are Afrikaans, English, IsiNdebele, IsiXhosa, IsiZulu, Sepedi, Sesotho, Setswana, SiSwati, Tshivenda, Xitsonga), and we are very aware of how ones language is your heimat. As JMG LeClezio said: -- la langue francaise est mon seul pays, le seul lieu ou j’habite.’ : the French language is my only country, the only place that I live. To be in foreign country, as any expat will tell you, you will always be a complete outsider -- until you have mastered the language of your adopted country.
But -- it is not enough to master the language. You also have to understand the thinking of your new neighbours. You have to understand where they come from, their culture, their history, their philosophy, and yes, their sense of humour.
Let me use my French Phrase for the Day as an example: When we say "She turned her nose up at the way the French laid their table", you would immediately get the picture, wouldn't you? 'Turning your nose up' to something is just that - putting your nose ever so slightly in the air as a sign of disapproval.(And by the way -- they do lay their table differently as they put their cutlery 'upside-down' because the family crest or initials on the silverware is always on the 'back' side of the forks and spoon handles. We have ours the other way round because our engraving is always on the 'front' side)
But, the French do not turn up their noses to show disapproval, so, if you want to translate and say Elle lui tourna le nez vers le haut à la manière dont le francais mit la table, it would be wrong and they would probably laugh at your funny way of speaking.The French, when they show disapproval, faire la fine bouche - they 'make thin lips'-- such a descriptive way of exactly what happens, non?
to turn one's nose up
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