Standing in line at Whole Foods I was privy to a conversation that I did not completely understand. The language flowed beautifully, the tones were warm, there was care in the words, care undiminished by pace. I found myself connecting a few words, but not the whole conversation, it had been a while since I had heard conversational French. It reminded me that I needed to re-immerse myself in the language. It also reminded me that we can talk in people's presence and have them not understand much of what we say, even when we speak their language .
I wasn't being spoken to, and I suspect that the people having this conversation had no idea of my eaves-dropping or my comprehension. The latter had the potential to be cloaked by their ignorance of my knowledge of their tongue. Come to think of it, they may expect me to understand them because it is not unusual for people from other countries to speak more than one language. But speaking is one thing, speaking so you are understood is something else.
Some of my public health colleagues embrace this mode of operation. They work hard to ensure that health communications are clear and understandable by the target audience. Today's French lesson reminded me that many of us may speak the language of the people we are serving, and may speak directly to them, but still manage to speak in a manner that leaves them only understanding a few of the words. Key concepts are missed, and major lessons lost on a group we want to "get it". We may talk around them more than we talk to them, and I don't think we mean to.
More on translation in the coming weeks.
A bientot (see you soon). Bonne nuit ( good night).
PV
PS - Tu me comprends? = Do you understand me?
No comments:
Post a Comment