Tongue Tied

Ladies and gentlemen, I have a superpower. Be amazed. It’s the ability to quickly and efficiently learn any language on the planet without even so much as a book to study or a dictionary to read. I know, I know, with great power comes great responsibility.

Unfortunately, as with any superpower, it comes with limitations. My limitation is that my power is only good when it comes to language relating to food and eating.

It’s been about two months, and my Hindi absolutely sucks. Anything besides “Hello, how are you, I am fine” completely escapes me. I haven’t been taking lessons with Madam Utra anymore. I haven’t been taking lessons of any kind since I got here. I have no phrasebook and no dictionary to study on my own. Atul has been telling me since he picked me up in Delhi that he has a Hindi phrasebook to give me, and I’m still waiting on that. The only tools at my disposal are my ears and my memory, and my memory when it comes to remembering how to pronounce hundreds of completely new words that I only hear once or twice is a little lacking, to say the least.

Yet when it comes to food, something inside of my head just switches on, and my superpower is suddenly activated. I can remember the Hindi name of every dish that I’ve eaten here. I know a lot of names of food ingredients, as well as some of the tools used to cook things, like pots and spatulas. When I’m talking to Indians about food in English, I will use the Hindi words for “potato” and “whole-wheat flour” instead of their English counterparts. Then I run into problems, because using those words with such good pronunciation prompts the person to praise my excellent Hindi skills. Then they start using more common phrases, and I’m completely lost again. I just can’t get it. They’ll even tell me some words or phrases and ask me to repeat them, and even though I’m repeating exactly what I think I hear, it’s still not right.

The same thing has happened to me before. I’m not a linguist, and I’m not fluent in any languages, but this is the fourth language besides English that I’ve studied and the second time that I’ve decided to live in a country that speaks a language that I haven’t studied at all. In all cases, I am able to pick up vocabulary relating to food a hell of a lot easier than anything else, and my pronunciation of food terms is much better than everything else. When I was in Hungary, I would go to restaurants with friends and be able to read the menu and order food in Hungarian with ease. My friends would take this as a hint to try and speak Hungarian with me exclusively. But when I try to hold a normal conversation, I just fall to pieces and can’t even make a full sentence.

Yesterday, my landlord came to the mud hut to talk with Atul about some matters, and I sat on the balcony and had my tea while they talked for 10-15 minutes in Hindi. Of course, I didn’t understand a word. Soon, the landlord asked me if I understood, and I said no, not a word. His retort: “You should try to understand. You have been here for some time.” Okay, sir, if you think it’s that easy, why don’t you go to a country that speaks a completely different language that’s not even in the same language family and just pick up common dialogue by ear, with no book and no dictionary. Oh, and try doing it while struggling to adapt to a radically different culture, all at the same time as you attempting to work with these people and make enough progress to justify receiving 12 credits from an American university. Let’s see how quickly you learn to discuss complex leasing matters in a new language then.

I don’t regret not being able to go to the language school in Mussorie at the beginning of the trip. In those first few days, I would have had so much trouble trying to adapt to my new environment that I doubt a 6-hour per day crash course for two weeks would have given me a significant base from which to communicate. Yet now that I have settled in, I could really use it. In May, when the next batch of U.S. students gets here, they will be doing their Hindi language courses in Palampur, and I will be joining them for that, for which I am thankful. It just seems a bit late to be learning the language, one or two months before I leave.

In the meantime, all I can do it listen harder and try to remember even harder. At least I have superpowers when it comes to food. Cuisine Crusader, to the rescue!