Day 5 of our <<vacances de printemps>> ① and we have woken to rain. I’ve been listening to it falling on the corrugated roof outside our bedroom since 6am, and have had the luxury of drifting in and out of sleep. Anton’s in Kuwait this week, and I have been very lazy, as you can imagine. After the girls surfaced, and we’d had our morning snuggle, Beth announced she was ready for breakfast. She’s going through a phase of being difficult to get food into, so if she’s prepared to eat cereal and yoghurt for breakfast- before 9h00…. I handed over my Samsung tablet so that they can watch You Tube music videos while they’re eating, and I made myself a coffee.
The You Tube music sessions are Anton’s fault. He always gets out of bed before me, and while he’s in the kitchen making his lunch, he likes to play You Tube music videos. The girls have picked up on this, and although I’m not really keen on it, it seems to have developed into a language course for the girls. Anton and I love the music videos’ of Die Heuwels Fantasties② and at the moment the girls have been selecting the music from the movie “As Jy Sing”.
A question that people are always asking is how much French we speak. I assume the girls speak enough, because Alex’s school report last week gave no indication that she is left behind. I only assume this, because they don’t speak very much around us. On the occasion I hear Alex speaking French, I love the way that it rolls off her tongue like water over rocks in a stream. The only French I ever hear from Beth is when she sings songs that she is taught at school. Anton and I are getting by. We are not able to voice our anger in an appropriate manner yet, and if we need to correspond with government organisations, Anton will ask a colleague to write on our behalf. That said I have achieved a few minor objectives this year that I couldn’t do a year ago. I managed to do cantine inscriptions for 2015/16, and ask for my QF ③. (This is something that has eluded us for too long, and was VERY chuffed with myself for getting it.) I also went to make enquiries into the conversion of my South African drivers licence to a French one. I can follow some French conversations- if my friends speak slowly- and I can read headlines in the news. I even went to watch Cinderella in French a few weeks ago, although I don’t believe that it was the biggest achievement considering I know the story ;-).
There is a perception across the world that the French are very proud of their language, and not inclined to speak anything else. Certainly, in the small villages, you won’t come across locals speaking anything but French. Here in Strasbourg there are still some that are determined to make you feel like the worst kind of foreigner for not being able to speak French, but seriously, for the most part, I have come across many Frenchmen that will help me in English, going so far as to break into English when they hear my grating accent.
Something that is very prevalent in our particular circle is that no one person is limited to speaking just one language. Our friends are European, and we are surrounded by French; English; German; Italian; Spanish; Portuguese; Polish; Alsacienne; Icelandic; Flemish; Finnish; Swedish; Dutch; and most speak at least 3 languages- their native tongue, plus English and French. (I joke that I also speak Zulu).
It’s such a pity that we’ve never really spoken Afrikaans in our home, because now would be a good time for it, in trying to maintain it as a language for the girls. Beth, who was late in starting to speak, has given up the little Afrikaans that she did speak. Weeks ago, when we attempted Afrikaans evenings, she would become angry in her defiance of not speaking it. As a result, we are less inclined to force it.
And this is one of the reasons that this morning when the girls asked to watch an Afrikaans movie that we have, I was happy for them to climb onto the couch and watch TV. Tannie Belin sent it over to the girls last September, and it’s a preppy sang en dans fliek ④. The girls like it because the music is fun, and performed by the actors who are youngsters, and they do a lot of dancing. My girls join in singing and dancing around, all the while, they have the Afrikaans in their ears. When we are out driving, we listen to Afrikaans music, and the girls love singing along. This might not account for Beth starting to speak it again, but at least it’s something.
Some might question why we would like the girls to keep it as a language, since we’ve chosen to live away from South Africa, but its part of our heritage isn’t it? It’s the connection to Oumie and Oupie, Tannie en Neef ⑤; it’s in the genetic make-up of our girls. And if Beth needs a secret language with her little Belgian friend, all the better!
① French for spring holiday
② An Afrikaans music band. Translated it is The Fantastic Hills, but that’s irrelevant. Having ‘discovered’ their video’s on-line, I have subsequently bought their albums on iTunes, and my iPod is choc-a-bloc with my favourites. If I was half inclined, I might tag this post, and share it on their Facebook page, just to say thanks for their amazing music, which my girls also love.
③ Quotient Familial- a numerical amount that determines how much we pay for certain state services.
④ Afrikaans for song and dance movie
⑤ Afrikaans for Granny, Grandpa, aunt and (boy) cousin
Pinot, Bretzels, and Cathedrals 