Rugadh mé san Úcráin ach tógadh mé don chuid is mó i gCeanada. Cúis phraiticiúil, seachas cúis pholaitiúil, is bun leis an alt seo a bheith á scríobh as Rúisis agam - nuair a thosaigh mé ar scoil, bhí an scoil áitiúil Úcráinise lán ach bhí spás dom sa scoil Rúisise. In 1995, agus mé deich mbliana d’aois, bhog mo theaghlach go Ceanada agus thosaigh mé ag foghlaim Béarla le mo chuid comhdhaltaí - inimircigh eile ó thíortha nach raibh fiú trácht cloiste agam orthu: Srí Lanca, na hOileáin Fhilipíneacha, an Phortaingéil. Bhí na hainmneacha sin chomh hallúrach leis an áit nua ar ghlaoigh muid ‘baile’ anois uirthi. Níor thuig duine ar bith mé, agus mar gheall air sin bhí Béarla agam taobh istigh den chéad bhliain. An té nach bhfuil ina thír dhúchais, bíonn sé de bhuntáiste aige pointe comparáide a bheith aige i gcónaí, agus dáimh a bheith aige le duine ar bith eile nach bhfuil cinnte cá bhfuil ‘an baile’. Sa mheánscoil thosaigh mé ag foghlaim Fraincise agus buíochas le múinteoir den scoth, thaitin sí go mór liom! Bhí mé tugtha di, ag aithint na bpatrún agus na gcosúlachtaí, ag cruthú dúshlán dom féin agus á mbaint amach (“Máistreoidh mé na briathra neamhrialta inniu!”). Ach dhírigh mé m’aire ar chruinneas teanga agus mar gheall air sin bhí eagla orm í a labhairt ar feadh i bhfad. Ina dhiaidh sin, thug mé faoin Spáinnis a fhoghlaim san ollscoil. Chaith mé tréimhsí i Meicsiceo, agus ansin i mBrasaíl chun an Phortaingéilis a fhoghlaim. Agus mé tumtha isteach sna teangacha sin, bhí sé níos fusa dearmad a dhéanamh ar mo chuid cúthaileachta agus labhairt le héinne a bhí sásta éisteacht liom! Anois déarfainn go bhfuil Rúisis, Béarla, Fraincis agus Spáinnis líofa agam agus tá bunPhortaingéilis agam freisin. Tá sé de rún agam iad uilig a choinneáil beo agam. Tá sé ar nós coileáin a uchtú - tá siad uilig chomh gleoite agus chomh cairdiúil sin go mbíonn an uile cheann uait, ach teastaíonn fuinneamh agus am uathu, bíonn siad in iomaíocht lena chéile agus má dhéanann tú faillí iontu, teithfidh siad! Níor cheart aird a thabairt ar fhoirfeachtachas agus teanga á foghlaim. Dá mba leor linn go dtuigfí muid, bheadh sé i bhfad níos éasca ár dteangacha a úsáid go rialta. Tá Baile Átha Cliath anois mar a bhí Vancouver agus mé óg - réimse leathan de theangacha agus de chultúir ag maireachtáil le chéile i spás beag. Ba chóir dúinn sult a bhaint as. Mar sin, an chéad uair eile a chloisfidh tú duine ag labhairt i dteanga atá á foghlaim agat, nó a bhí, lean ort agus beannaigh dóibh sula gcuireann tú ina luí ort féin go bhfuil an nath imithe uait! I was born in Ukraine but raised mostly in Canada. It is not for a political reason that I write this essay in Russian, but simply a practical one – when I began school, the local Ukrainian-language school was full while the Russian one had space. In 1995, when I was ten years old, my family moved to Canada and I started learning English alongside my new peers – kids from countries I had never even heard of. Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Portugal – these all seemed as exotic as the new place we called home. No one understood a word I said and as a result I learned English within the year. The benefit of being from elsewhere is always having a point of comparison, and a connection to anyone else who has ever been unsure of where ‘home’ refers to. In high school, I started learning French and thanks to a great teacher, I loved it. It became addictive, seeing the patterns and the similarities, setting and meeting your own challenges (“Today I will master the irregular verbs!”). However, I was really focused on being extremely accurate and as a result I was too shy to speak for a long time. I went on to learn Spanish in university, partly through a semester abroad in Mexico, and then Portuguese, in Brazil. Being immersed in the languages made it easier to let go of my inhibitions and just speak to anyone who would listen! Now I consider myself fluent in Russian, English, French, and Spanish, with basic Portuguese. My goal is to maintain them in usable order. It’s like adopting puppies – they are so cute and friendly you want to take them all, but they require regular time and energy to maintain, they can fight over your attention, and if you neglect them, they may run away! I think perfectionism has no place in language learning. If we aim for being understood we could really give ourselves a break and just try to keep using the languages we are learning. Dublin is now what Vancouver was like growing up, a kaleidoscope of languages and cultures that co-exist in a small space, and we really ought to make the most of it. So next time you overhear someone speaking in a language you are learning, or once studied, go over and say hello, before you convince yourself that you’ve forgotten how to say it! 11
TCD Multilingual 2015
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