Lost in Translation

Last Sunday, a new housemate arrived!

Her name is Miyu, and she comes from Japan. She's here in Tours for two weeks to study tourism (such an aptly-named place for such a study! There are so many terrible puns one can make about taking a tour of Tours and so forth--however, Google-searching the city has been annoying: type in "things to do in Tours, France" and about 20 different guided Paris tours pop up).

Miyu is super sweet, but there is one little problem: she doesn't speak any French, and even her English is limited.

Since none of my other housemates are native English speakers, it has sort of fallen upon me to be her translator. While my host mother was taking Miyu on a tour of the house, I was made to shadow them: my host mother struggled to explain things with a few English words, but when she could not come up with the vocabulary, she would rattle something off to me in French and I would then translate into simple English for Miyu.

Switching so fast from English to French is very new to me. For the first two weeks in Tours, there were specified times or places where I speak each language: it is French-only in the house, while walking to school with Ardiana and Francesca, and in the classroom, but when I am with my American friends in a store or while eating lunch, English is more natural.

However, this past week with Miyu in the house has thrown me off a little: at dinner, we all speak in French (poor Miyu, not understanding!) and then we pause while someone attempts to explain to her in broken English what the conversation was about. When they do not know a word, they turn to me and say the word in French with a questioning look. Honestly, half the time, I don't even know the French word that they are saying, so they explain the meaning of the word (in French, of course) and then I relay the corresponding English word or phrase to Miyu. When she responds, I usually translate her words back into French unless it is such a simple answer that everyone else understands.

There are times, however, where they rattle off a French word and I know the meaning, I KNOW IT, yet my mind switches off English-mode or something: I just can't come up with the correct translation. My fear has come true: I'M FORGETTING ENGLISH!!

Not really, of course: I am just learning how difficult it is to translate one language into another so fast! It is like turning water into ice then back into water: English and French are the same thing essentially (both languages, both H20, necessary for humans), and they have some similar properties, but other properties are very different (ice floats, water conforms to its container, English and French use completely different words, sounds, and sentence structures). It is hard to turn one language into the other instantaneously.

On another note, my housemate Francesca returned to Italy this morning. Her course at the Institute finished yesterday, and she is going back home to continue studying economics at her university. Even though I only knew her for three weeks, I'm still a little sad: she was really welcoming, and I enjoyed going out at night with her and a few of the other Italians, even though they mostly spoke their native tongue and I couldn't understand a word. (I understand how you feel at dinner, Miyu!)

Languages are complicated and beautiful things, but they can be very alienating.