Are you a different person when you speak a foreign language? That’s just one of the questions The New Yorker’s writer and native North Carolinian Lauren Collins explores in her engaging autobiography, about her tough efforts to master French after marrying a Frenchman whose name — Olivier — she couldn’t even pronounce properly. When in French ranges from the humorously personal to a deeper look at various theories of language acquisition and linguistics.
The couple met in London “on more or less neutral ground: his continent, my language.” But the balance shifted when they moved to Geneva for Olivier’s work. The normally voluble Collins found herself at a loss — “nearly speechless.” The language barrier, and her dependence on her husband for simple things like buying the right cut of meat worsened her mixed feelings about “unlovely, but not ridiculous” Geneva. She comments, “Language, as much as land, is a place. To be cut off from it is to be, in a sense, homeless.”
Her sense of alienation (疏离感) leads to an examination of America’s miserable record when it comes to foreign languages: “Linguists call America ‘the graveyard of languages’ because of its singular ability to take in millions of immigrants and make their native languages die out in a few generations,” Collins writes. Educated in Wilmington, N.C., and at Princeton, she could — like the vast majority of Americans — only speak their mother tongue.
Eight months after she moved to Switzerland, Collins gave up on the natural acquisition of language and finally enrolls in a French course. As she struggles with grammar and vocabulary, Collins notes smartly that vert (green), verre (glass), ver (worm), vers (toward), and vair (squirrel) compose a quintuple homonym (同形异义). “Although it’s difficult, French can be tried,” she says.
Yet French is actually considered among the easiest languages for an English speaker to learn, especially compared to Arabic or Mandarin Chinese. Collins, whose notably rich English vocabulary includes glossolalia (nonsense speech) and shibboleth (catchword or slogan), finds plenty of terrific French words to love. She writes, “English is a trust fund, an unearned inheritance, but I've worked for every bit of French I've banked.”
Unlike Jhumpa Lahiri, who became so hooked on Italian and used it to write In Other Words, Collins’ goals for learning French were more modest: “I wanted to speak French and to sound like North Carolina.” She also wanted to be able to deal with chimney sweeps and butchers, communicate with her in-laws, and “to touch Olivier in his own language.” She admits that she feels different speaking French: “Its austerity (朴素) made me feel more confused.”
1. Which of the following has the closest meaning to the underlined word “voluble” in Paragraph 2?
A.Graceful. | B.Dependent. | C.Talkative. | D.Energetic. |
2. Why do linguists call America “the graveyard of languages”?
A.Because other languages are prohibited in America. |
B.Because only English-speaking people can immigrate into America. |
C.Because immigrants’ native languages contradict English in America. |
D.Because American culture swallows up immigrants’ native languages gradually. |
3. What can be inferred from Paragraph 4 and Paragraph 5?
A.Collins’ English vocabulary knowledge contributes little to her French learning. |
B.Collins has found out some effective ways of mastering French words. |
C.Arabic or Mandarin Chinese is easier to learn than French for English speakers. |
D.It’s terrifying for Collins to have French words in store for practical use. |