The other day I was picking up some pictures at a photo studio when something funny happened. There was a teenager behind the counter who was extremely bubbly and talked and talked and talked to the point of exhaustion (mine!). Just then my phone rang (Thank Goodness!). It was my hubby. As I was talking to him in Marathi (an Indian language, which is my mother tongue,) interspersed with some English words and phrases, I noticed that the girl was staring at me with a question mark on her face. As soon as I finished my conversation, she said “Was that English, you were speaking?” I said no. The she said “ I heard some words that sounded like English but the rest was all blah blah so I was wondering how anyone was understanding what you were saying”. “ My dear there are thousands of languages in this world. Just because you do not understand a language does not mean no-one else does.” I didn’t actually say the last part but I wanted to.
When I told my hubby about this incident he laughed and told me that when he was a kid (may be 3-4) they had neighbors that spoke different languages. Whenever he used to hear them talk he used to wonder how they understood each other. I can understand a small kid who has no concept of languages thinking this way. But a for a college age teenager to say that, is to display sheer ignorance! It’s like saying, “all oriental people look the same”. You won’t believe how many otherwise smart people have said that! Sure, they may have light radiant skin, small eyes, high cheekbones but that’s where the similarity ends. Every ethnicity has some commonality in their features; we Indians mostly have brown skin, black big eyes, black hair etc. To a non-Indian who’s not too familiar with Indians we all may look the same, but we know we aren’t. In fact an Indian friend once got told that she and her husband looked similar when in reality they have no common feature. She couldn’t believe it and yet she is one of the people who think that all oriental people look the same!
Have you had these kinds of experiences? If so, do share!
In the meantime I have to make movie plans with my Japanese friend A or was it M? I can’t tell the difference!
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8 comments:
Its the same with chinese or with Whites in forigen lands. To "others" we all look the same, but in fact are different.
Dont be suprised a college age person said what she said. There are alot of stupid people out there....
As a missionary in Uruguay, knocking on people's doors people would decide ahead of time whether or not they could understand me. My favorite time was when a lady told my mission companion she couldn't understand him and to let me speak. My companion was from Uruguay! However, I do speak Spanish well, since my father is from Chile (no- not Mexico, yes he is a citizen, no he pays his taxes, yes my parents fly the American flag out front-not the Mexican one....)
WHAT??? You mean people speak languages other than English?
Actually, I used to wonder how other people who spoke different languages understood one another.
Carmachu,
You are right! There are a lot of stupic people out there!
David,
I guess some perceptions are hard to change!
Welcome to my blog. I plan to visit yours soon.
DD,
I guess as kids we all have wondered such things but what surprised me was a person who's almost an adult making such remarks.
I work with lots of Chinese people. I'm an engineer. And they always tell me the same thing, in all earnestness (remember, engineers have no sense of humor). They tell me that all we white people look the same!
I'm not making this up! :)
Kasa kay? (from one fellow Maharashtrian to another).
Nothing like this has happened to me. Although the teen does seem like any other teen :)
Dan ,
I believe you.
Sanjay,
Majet. Marathi ani ti pan mumbai chi!
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