May 7

May 7 Speaking In Tongues. The Trials And Tribulations Of Learning A New Language.

I have just finished another Bahasa Indonesian lesson at a well-regarded language school here in Bali and quite frankly; yet again I found it mentally exhausting!

As I base myself here for up to ten months a year to supposedly write a book (well my publisher believes that, and I’m quite comfortable with that myth) I have found it increasingly necessary to try and learn to speak the language.

This is proving to be a long, winding and oftimes bumpy road.

In recent years I have re -invented myself, not only as a novelist but also as a travel writer. This ambitious career change often takes me to places where spoken English is extremely rare. Sometimes, having a translator with me is not an option and therefore I have had to bite the bullet and knuckle down to become even a little proficient.

My language class is small, just four eager students and an ever so patient teacher.

To tell the truth, I am a little overawed by my fellow classmates as they radiate confidence and intelligence and gobble up the class notes in a flash while I hold up proceedings as I plod through the most basic of sentences. Like “ my name is, etc.”

One of the students is a Greek gentleman of similar vintage to me. Greek is his mother tongue and yet this fellow speaks English, Spanish, German and, " enough Arabic ' to get by! And here he is adding another tongue to his already bulging cabinet of languages.

Bloody show off!

A rather shy Russian woman who has recently mastered English now embarks on acquiring yet another tongue, stoically working away at pronunciation and diction. I wonder, does she see the word, work it back into Russian, then into English and then into Bahasa Indonesian; the mind boggles.

Indonesian (Bahasa Indonesia) is the official language of Indonesia and is the standard register of Malay, used as the "lingua franca in the Indonesian Archipelago for centuries. There are over 700 indigenous languages in this, the most diverse of countries and yet, today Indonesian is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world.

Elevated to the status of " official language '" after independence in 1945, it was designed by academics rather than natural evolution.

Thus the language ' borrows ' much from other tongues, especially Dutch and was created as a unifying communication platform for its nearly 300 million inhabitants.

So how hard could it be? After all, this language has become the mother tongue, superseding the over 300 native languages that abound on the 17,000 inhabited islands of this incredible country and everyone speaks it .

Actually for me, it is very hard!

Having grown up in countries where English was the primary tongue, I guess the brain gets lazy or stubborn when trying to think and speak in another tongue alien to ones learned method of communicating. Pronunciation, nuances, spelling and a different sounding alphabet does everything in its power to confuse me!

Now here in Bali, as my confidence grows, I learn to ask a basic question (if only to show my Greek compatriot that I am on par with him) and do so with gusto, feeling mighty pleased with myself. Suddenly, a rapid-fire answer comes back at me from my teacher laced with a corresponding question.

I simply stare open mouthed as, to be quite honest, I haven’t a clue as to what the gentleman has just said. He could in effect be speaking Mandarin!

I adorn my house here in Bali with post it notes in Indonesian stuck to all manner of objects around the home as I laboriously try to increase my vocabulary by repeating these words like a personal mantra.

Yes, as I said, my confidence is building!

This morning I set off to the market rehearsing the basic sentence, " Good Morning. Please could I have a carton of milk and a dozen eggs? Thank you."