Friday, April 22, 2011

On the linguistic dilemma (specifically on planes)...


İ have always been amazed by people who can look at someone and immediately know which language (out of their extensive repetoire) to use with that person. At the Grand Bazaar in İstanbul, for example, I'm always impressed with the speed and accuracy with which the men selling their wares attempt to draw customers in by yelling in the tourist's native tongue. Walking through the market you hear Spanish and English and İtalian gallore, salesmen who speak 10 languages but have never been outside of İstanbul. İ once talked to a man from the Bazaar (in Spanish) who spoke with a perfect Spain Spanish accent. İ asked him if he'd studied in Spain or spent some time there. He laughed at me and said no, he'd never left Turkey; he didn't even have a passport!


Now Americans are usually pretty easy to spot. So are İtalians. And Spaniards. İ suppose İ've gotten pretty good at identifying people's nationalities myself over the years, but to pinpoint their language with a 90% accuracy and start speaking it to them is just beyond me.




But me. What do İ look like? What language should these people be speaking to me in? İ apparently cause a bit of a dilemma. First of all, İ tend to travel by myself, so the immediate reaction to listen to what language İ'm speaking to those around me is not helpful. İ look American, okay, but apparently İ also look German. And on rare occasions İ'm told İ look like a light Spaniard. And when İ'm very tan, İ can get the benefit of the doubt to be Turkish or İtalian when İ'm in those respective countries. The confusion is furthered when İ'm traveling/wandering around with foreign friends speaking other languages. İ remember being in the Grand Bazaar in İstanbul with 2 İtalian friends speaking İtalian and then conversing with the salesmen in Turkish. The salesman all of a sudden turns to me and goes "But where are you from????" He was actually annoyed that he couldn't fıgure out the answer himself! İn the Florence market a few weeks ago shopping with some international girlfriends, we actually happened upon a very sweet salesman who immediately spoke to us in İtalian and said that we looked like foreigners, but he could tell we were foreigners that lived here and definitely spoke İtalian. Then he tried to woo us with his pretend Arabic. He told us that all we had to do to speak Arabic was add a "walahaaaa" to the end of everything...


But honestly, I do try and avoid speaking English when İ can. İ prefer conversing in public in İtalian while abroad because it's more secretive. And İ defintely try and speak the local language as best İ can. During my travels in İtaly, Turkey, and Peru, İ always used the local language in my exchanges. Even when the other person tries to speak in English, İ always insist on using the appropriate language to the best of my abilities.


This leads me to the dilemma of airplane linguistics....


Air hostesses are quite good with languages, of course. They all know English along with whatever other relevent languages are necessary for their flight. They are also just as good as the market salesmen in deciding which language they should use with which customer. But what language am I supposed to respond in? For example, on my most recent flight from İtaly to İstanbul, İ flew with Turkish Airlines. The hostess, of course, spoke to me in English. İ responed in Turkish. But she continued to speak to me in English, so İ finally gave in and just responded in English. But on a long Luftansa flight a few months back, the hostesses kept speaking to me in German. Every single time they would speak to me in German, İ would respond with a blank stare (because İ speak absolutely no German whatsoever) and they would just stare back confused. Haha. So what language should İ be speaking on these planes? As someone who tries my best to blend in and be respectful of cultures while İ wander this great big world of ours, İ feel strange about the language dilemma. Should İ just cave and play the American and speak only English? Do İ keep up my attempts at speaking the other language? Do the stewardesses just think İ'm weird for trying to speak to them in my non-native tongue?


Who knew that knowing more than 1 language would create such complications...




Just for fun, I leave you with an image of the city İ am currently visiting. Guess where İ am?




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