Sergej Jesenjin (1895-1925), Russian poet

Yesterday my language tutor brought me a Serbian translation of a book of poems by Sergej Jesenjin, a Russian poet who lived through the Bolshevik Revolution in St. Petersburg.  ”After a year of reading things like this, you’ll speak better than I do…  If you want to speak intelligent Bosnian, then this is the way.”  I laughed a bit, and then he continued.  ”You will, you will.”   » Read the rest of this entry «

“Did you me understand?”

“I am.”

“What did said?”

“It means that I am paid two times last month, so I don’t need that I pay for this month.”

“So it is.”

“Thanks.  I must that I go.  Until sighting.”

“Until sighting.  Bye!”

No, the above gibberish was not a transcript of the latest conversation with my two-year-old.  It was a conversation from this morning, with my two-year-old’s teacher.  I write this to illustrate one of the finer points of language acquisition on the road to fluency: word order.

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What do you see? A witch or a young lady?

The other day my Bosnian language professor stopped our class for a second and asked me pointedly, “Tell me, why is it so important to you that you learn our language?”  Her reasoning was understandable.  My job requires me to work within the university system here, and I have frequent contact with college students who speak English.  Any significant relationships I develop are generally with those who speak better English anyway.  What’s more, English has also evolved into a kind of “prestige” language around the world, especially in developing countries; speaking English is seen as a more distinguished way to converse.  ”If you speak the local language,” she said, “you no longer have the upper hand.”   » Read the rest of this entry «