Reflection # 6

Re the Whorfian hypothesis: Are there concepts or ways of saying things in one of the languages that you speak that can not be said or expressed or the meaning changes in another of your languages?

Yes, there are many things that exist in one (or some) languages but not in others because they express customs, values or beliefs that those languages/cultures don’t share. For example, in Japan when a member of the family goes out, they say 1-)“itte kimasu” ; the people staying at the house respond 2-) “itte irasshai”; then when the people return they say 3- “tadaima” and the response to that is 4-) “okaerinasai”. 1 means ‘I’m leaving and coming back’ and 2 is ‘go and come back’; 3 is ‘just now’ (like ‘I’m back now’) and 4 is ‘welcome back’. Although these patterns are not used in western culture, we can understand these concepts and usages, but it’s harder to explain the expression used when a non family member enters someone’s house and says “ojama shimasu”, meaning “I’m going to bother you” or the famous “itadakimasu” one says at the table when starting to eat, meaning literally “I’m going to partake”, and that can be equated with the French “bon appetite” or the Spanish “buen provecho” (although the meaning is different, the use is similar). Even stranger is when cashiers say the same “itadakimasu” when taking a payment from a customer. How do you say THAT? Well, we just DON’T say it. A westerner learning Japanese will have to really get to thinking like the Japanese people in order to use formalities (essential formalities) like these ones comfortably and properly, not just ‘saying it’.

How do you address culture in your classrooms? Do you go beyond the "holiday" model of culture?

When I was teaching adults in Japan, I had numerous opportunities to address culture in and out of the classroom, like going to the opera (students paid for themselves), bringing cheese and wine (yes, wine) and other “italianities’ to the classroom (the school paid), going to or showing movies, and just talking about the different customs in Italy, like family, work, time off, etc. Here at the high school level, I didn’t do much of the very common Hispanic holiday thing because most of the holidays celebrated here are Mexican and I know nothing (or maybe now I now a little bit more) about 5 de mayo, 16 de septiembre, or dia de los muertos. I did share other cultural elements, some that may be more interesting for teenagers, like the common custom of going out to “walk”, meet at “la esquina”, “la plaza”, “la calle”, “las ramblas” or other public places. How young people have fun and what they do when they meet: dancing (no parties without music and dancing), going to the beach, actually the custom known as “veranear” (to spend the summer somewhere, usually by the sea or “en el campo”). Kids usually find these things more interesting than knowing the flags of the Spanish speaking countries, for example. In HS, I would bring music, magazines, videos and some (appropriate) movies. I would show them how to dance salsa and merengue and they would try to teach me the “bunny dance” (or whatever it was called). A couple of times, the teacher across my room and I had our (good) classes “compete” to see which class would dance better. I also wanted my students to know how in other countries education and health care were free, and why many people didn’t have cars and cars were so small (lay out of towns, everything being walk distance, public transportation being efficient and not just for the “disadvantaged”), and many other things that can be easily misinterpreted (“they are poor, their cars are small”) and that cause misconceptions or that feed on stereotypes. The purpose of my bringing culture into the classroom was mainly to broaden my students’ minds and help them see that there is a whole huge, wonderful world beyond their little noses, hoping to incite them to know more about other cultures, languages, and realities.