Lost in Translation

My brother had gone to Kerala for his studies and so I went to visit him. Now, if you Google, 'God's Own Country', Kerala comes up. The college and the hostel is built on a mountain and is surrounded by lush and green forest.

I lived in his hostel and knew none of his friends. So I befriended everyone from the working staff. The Security staff, staff help, hostel head, warden, professors, and professor's assistant too! People working at the mess- the head, cook, and basically everyone.

I am an introvert, but I am not shy. People often mix the two. I was a shy introvert earlier, but I came over the fear about talking to actual humans, I'm just an introvert now.

There was only one problem- Everyone spoke Malayalam, the regional language of Kerala.

They spoke broken English, and I learned few Malayalam words, it was really fun communicating with them. Lots of laughter and comedy of errors.

I'm a little late to the party, but finally, here's my submission for @JonicaBradley and @TengoLoTodo  's prompt #13, Language.

I can speak four languages at present-

English was my first language in school. All the subjects were taught in English. I speak English commonly with friends, and also when presented in formal conversations. 'Nincompoop' is my favorite English word, don't ask why.

Hindi is commonly spoken in the majority of India. I speak in Hindi at home and with close friends. My first words were in Hindi. 'Ji' is my favorite Hindi word. Adding the word 'Ji' at the end of a noun (mostly proper noun) adds respect. For example, 'Masterji', or 'Tailorji'.

I live in the state of Maharashtra, so Marathi was taught to us in school to promote the regional language of Maharashtra.

Sindhi, is my mother tongue, though I can't speak Sindhi fluently, I can understand most terms and can form basic sentences.

I read an article by @Eybyoung , She Speaks Three Languages, where she talks about her daughter being multilingual. I'm somewhat along similar lines.

I've been meaning to learn French for quite some time, and now that I have some extra time in my hands, why not? Though I can read and understand basic words, I can't, for the life of me speak any word other than, "Oui".

My progress report on Duolingo.com

My grandmother could speak 7 or 8 languages! I can only hope if it's in my blood to learn languages quickly.

So I planned on attending online interactive sessions, hoping it would help me with pronunciations (and confidence!). After my second session, I understood 2 things-

We do not agree on the meaning assigned to the word 'Beginner'. Some of them 'Beginners' spoke French so fluently, it made my head spin faster than a fidget spinner, thus making me forget all the words that I had previously learned.

Some of them mentioned I spoke English better than some of the native speakers. Of course, I speak decent English, I've been speaking English for almost 20 years!

But more on verbal communication later. Facial communication! That's my thing. I can almost speak entire sentences without using any words. Most of the time when I need to communicate with a certain person and not let the other people from our group know.

I have shitty cards!

You know this one. Either you're making them, or catch others making them.

What do you mean we're out of fries?

Are you seriously considering dating him? The ice cream machine at McDonald's is finally working? Did he buy you an actual star? And everything in between. But most importantly, when I see my grade sheet.

I know what you did and I'm going to secretly judge you for it!

I won't tell anyone, but you are a prime suspect, so you can stop lying to me.

I'm bored, let's leave right now!

Now that we've established that I have shitty cards, can we leave?

That's all folks, I hope it was fun.

A little something I wrote when I was attending a wedding, pre-pandemic, surrounded by a thousand relatives-

Do you tremble in fear? Does your leg shiver?

It happens to me quite frequently, I start breathing heavily.

Profoundly I sweat, almost like someone's given me a threat.

What am I doing, at a social gathering?

-Stea, 2018

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