Ein sechsjähriges Mädchen aus der Romandie muss in Basel Deutsch lernen. Englisch lernt sie mit unserer Expat-Bloggerin Auntie Sam. Die wiederum fragt sich, wie gut ihr eigenes Deutsch nach fünf Jahren Schweiz sein sollte.
Dear Auntie SAM: How’s your German (coming along)?
Your dear Auntie prides herself on being a good immigrant. As such, I take several low-paying jobs away from locals who don’t want them anyway.
One of my jobs, my favorite, occurs every Wednesday afternoon: I babysit & teach English to a (now) 6 year old girl.
Her family is from a French-speaking region of Switzerland. She speaks French at home. And, last year when she started school here in Basel, began learning German. Her parents hired me to prepare her for a few years from now when she will start taking English in school.
We play. We joke. We run around. We even prepare desserts & small things for her family’s dinners. Every week, I think of new ways to develop her vocabulary.
But, in her eyes, every Wednesday, a silly blonde who doesn’t know French or German appears at her doorstop with a Cheshire grin. She asks me what we’re going to create this week. And, from out of my bag, imagination, or even her cardboard recycling bin, I introduce, reiterate, & expand her world.
Through play, we develop our understanding of us.
But also through sorrow.
I comforted her when her brother got injured & had to go to the hospital. When, suddenly, a fever overtook her, we coped. And, in turn, when she learned things were tough in my life, she asked her mom about me daily, invited me to stay for dinner, saved her ice cream for me, & bought me my very own Sorgen Fresser (I carry it always).
Many times we don’t need to use English to understand each other.
But it’s my job that we do.
I met my first friend from Basel at a poetry slam conducted in dialect. I could not even differentiate the words. But, I got their meaning.
The poets showed me their meanings. Thank the heavens for art.
People much more knowledgeable about such things than me say: learning German is tough. In fact, they say, in kinder words than I’ll use: learning a language is extremely difficult for anyone who reaches adulthood in an over-privileged, uni-lingual society. As I did.
Now, after nearly five years of working and living among German speakers, when my local friends speak or write in their language (which is rare), especially if I understand context, I can understand what’s been said. I’ve been told that’s the first step.
But, to speak?
I have a theory that we only have one bucket in our brain where all our words – foreign or otherwise – get stored. It’s our underwear drawer.
When we need to speak, we open that drawer & shove everything else aside in our search for those magic panties.
«Is this what I need?» (Nope: socks) «Is this appropriate?» (Again: socks)
When, on that off-chance we need socks, we rarely find a matching pair.
Life learning another language … alone … in a world where most people I meet prefer to improve their English rather than both of us speak a second language (High German) … is like living in a panty drawer full of socks.
And it feels especially frustrating when, irrespective of all else you’ve done, „integration“ from a visa & local perspective is accustomed to people – families – preparing young lives for multi-language acquisition.
C’est la vie.
So … again, we cope. And, if I cannot yet be the poet, perhaps I’ll be the poem.
I ask you: in this fast growing globalizing society in which information & people travel without regard to space or time, since we’ve met, Darling, since you’ve come to try, to read, to care … how’s your English?
XO
AS
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SATURDAY take a peek behind the scenes at ZOO-NIGHT. Animal conservation LECTURES, behind the scenes TOURS, and LIVE MUSIC and VIEWS OF THE ELEPHANTS from the TERRACE BAR. 50% discount on entry from 5pm.
SUNDAY watch a DIFFERENT KIND OF MONKEY PLAY at JUGEND CIRCUS BASILISK. ROSENTALANLAGE BASEL, Every day from JUNE 7-16. www.circusbasilisk.ch COLLECTION.