Rugadh mé ar oileán thuaidh na Seapáine, Hokkaido. Tá máthair Sheapánach agus athair Éireannach agam, mar sin táim dáchiniúil, agus i ndiaidh na mblianta, dátheangach. Níl “chéad teanga” faoi leith agam, toisc gur fhás mé aníos ag éisteacht leis an dá theanga, Béarla agus Seapáinis, ó dhúchas. Labhair m’athair Béarla liom agus labhair mo mháthair Seapáinis; is mar sin atá fós. Chinntigh sé seo nach ndeachaigh pé áit ina raibh mé lonnaithe go rómhór i bhfeidhm ar mo dhul chun cinn sa dá theanga. Ina theannta sin, bhí sé de bhuntáiste agam gur múinteoirí teanga iad mo thuistí, mar sin bhí tuiscint mhaith acu ar a dteangacha féin, tuiscint níos fearr ná a bheadh ag aon chainteoir dúchais. Cé gur éirigh liom an dá theanga a fhoghlaim ag an am céanna, bhí constaicí móra ag baint leis fós. Gan amhras, bhí sé deacair cloí le haon teanga amháin - go minic mheascainn an dá theanga in abairt amháin agus is deacair fós an nós seo a bhriseadh. Ní amháin sin ach tá sé de nós ag mo thuistí labhairt lena chéile ina dteangacha dúchasacha pé áit a bhfuil siad; labhródh m’athair le mo mháthair as Béarla, d’fhreagródh sí i Seapáinis, agus ní thitfeadh an comhrá as a chéile. Ní rud é seo a d’fheicfeá i ngnáth-theaghlach. Rud amháin a mhúin an dátheangachas dom ná go gcuireann gach teanga pearsantacht faoi leith chun cinn, múnlaithe ag cultúr na tíre sin agus a nósanna sóisialta. Tá codarsnacht chomh mór sin idir sochaí na hÉireann agus sochaí na Seapáine go bhfuilim tar éis rud faoi leith a thabhairt faoi ndeara-athraím an dóigh a n-iompraím mé féin ag brath ar cén teanga atá á labhairt agam. Tá cuirtéis agus onóir fréamhaithe sa tSeapáinis, agus dá bharr sin scaraim an úsáid a mbainim as an tuin neamhfhoirmeálta agus “keigo” (teanga bhéasach) sna suíomhanna éagsúla ina mbím, i gcontrárthacht leis an gcultúr Éireannach ina mbíonn an iliomad comhráite neamh-fhoirmeálta, fiú le stráinséirí. Le hathrú teanga tagann athrú ar nósanna sóisialta. Ligeann an dátheangachas dom labhairt le, agus dá réir sin, nascadh le, níos mó daoine. Déanann Nelson Mandela cur síos foirfe ar bhuntáiste tábhachtach atá leis an dátheangachas nach gcuirtear san áireamh go minic: “Labhair le fear i dteanga a dtuigeann se agus rachaidh na focail i bhfeidhm ar a chloigeann. Labhair leis ina theanga féin agus rachaidh na focail i bhfeidhm ar a chroí”. Go deimhin, mairim de réir an ráitis sin. I was born in the north island of Japan, Hokkaido, to a Japanese mother and an Irish father, making me bi-racial and also, through the years, bilingual. I don’t have a specific “first language” per se as I grew up exposed to both English and Japanese since I was born. My father spoke English to me and my mother spoke Japanese, and it has continued to be that way since. This ensured that location did not become a major determinant in how far I progressed in each language. I also had the advantage of my parents both being language teachers, so that they had a good understanding of their own languages, more than any native speaker. Although I was able to learn two languages at once, there were definitely major obstacles in this concept. It was indeed difficult to use one exclusively - very often I mixed the two languages in a sentence and it is still a challenge for me today to successfully break this habit. My parents also have the habit of speaking to each other in their native language regardless of the situation; my father would speak to my mother in English and she would respond in Japanese and the conversation would not collapse. Not what you would normally see in an everyday household. One thing that I have learned from being bilingual is that each language brings along a certain type of personality, shaped by that language’s culture and social norms behind it. Japanese and Irish society are so contrasting that I have realized that I automatically change how I carry myself, just by speaking each language. Courtesy and honour, so deeply rooted in the Japanese language make me separate my uses of the casual tone and “keigo” (polite language) in each situation I find myself in when speaking Japanese, in contrast with the Irish culture of countless casual conversations even with strangers. Change in language cues a change in social expectations. Being bilingual has allowed me to speak to and hence to connect with more people. Nelson Mandela perfectly describes one of the most overlooked benefits of bilingualism: “If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart”. I truly live by his statement. 9
TCD Multilingual 2015
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