Languages My Family Lost

Melina Marchetta (1965 - )

Hey All!

You have no idea how happy I am to have you all as followers. That said, you've probably how the content coming from me has slowed to a trickle. I've been a bit busy of late and don't want to just throw random quotes and what not at you (though I have been fortunate enough to find some real gems). What I would really love to do is share more stories from people about the languages that used to be spoken in their families.

That's where you guys come in. Spread the word, get some stories from your friends, relations, and neighbors. Encourage them to submit their stories using the submit form, sending them via e-mail, ping me on Twitter, or even through the project's Facebook page. I would love to hear from you!

This project is as much yours as it is mine. Let's go for it and make it something remarkable.

Thank you! You may now go back to your regularly scheduled Tumblr viewing of cat pictures and gifs.

Sincerely,

Challenge yourself to identify some eighty languages by their sound alone. Learn more about how languages sound and where they're spoken.

In her talk, longtime English teacher Patricia Ryan asks a provocative question: Is the world's focus on English preventing the spread of great ideas in other languages? (For instance: what if Einstein had to pass the TOEFL?) It's a passionate defense of translating and sharing ideas. (Filmed at TEDxDubai.)

The Irish side of my mother's family used to throw great parties. She's told me that they didn't consider a party a success unless the cops were called on them at least three times. It wasn't Mom's scene, but she was amused by it.

After she and my father got married, they moved away from their ancestral homeland of Upstate New York and put down roots in suburban Maryland. We lost touch with cousins and other relations I never really got to know. On occasion, Mom expresses a regret that we never grew up around family.

The other day was one such time. I was getting nostalgic for the days when my friends would start singing after consuming certain number of alcoholic beverages. I used to call it "Drunken Singing O'Clock." Upon hearing my lamentations, my mother told me that her family gatherings not only had drinking, but music as well.

Music happened to be another language in which that side of her family was fluent. They'd sing, play instruments, and carouse. My mother wishes we'd gotten to be exposed to that sort of camaraderie, but between time and distance, that just never happened.

I grew up in a house that spoke American English. We didn't, and don't, speak any other languages at home (unless you count a certain fluency in expletives and terrible grammar). Growing up, I'd visit the houses of my friends and always found it fascinating when their parents would speak to them in their native tongue and my friends would respond in English.

I'm told that this is a common occurrence that frequently ends up with the younger generation being unable to speak the language of their forebears. I have a friend who would respond to his mother's Spanish with English who later became a translator for a lawyer. I recall that he once mentioned his difficulty at the start with some of the words he understood when he heard them, but could not find in his Spanish vocabulary.

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