last week i finished b1, the third level of my german course – this week we started b2, and i’m officially an intermediate student. almost suddenly, i’ve noticed that i can understand a lot of what people around me are saying – even if i’m not able to answer back as fluently as i’d like to. i’ve reached the point where german is no longer background noise, making it impossible to tune out.

i persevere because there’s a sort of magic in languages, like a key to the country’s culture and modus operandi. i’m also fascinated by the unexpected and delightful words – like glühbirne (glowing pear = light-bulb) or bauchredner (belly speaker = ventriloquist).

sometimes i wonder – will this be the last language i learn? i find it a sad prospect… but at the same time, language learning is so time consuming, and i don’t see the point of doing it if you’re going to do a half-assed job. what’s the purpose of speaking just a little bit of anything? either you do, or you don’t. still, at each new language, the previous ones get dimmed, put aside… not forgotten but just lulled into a silent corner, their words mingling with the new ones. which reminds me, i really should dust off my mandarin books someday…

yesterday, a french tourist asked us for some directions to a nearby hill. straightforward stuff, follow us, and on that road go straight ahead till you get to the top. and then, as i visualized the answer in my head… i couldn’t say a straight french sentence without sprinkling it with chinese. my french used to be pretty decent, but every time the man asked something, my first reply was in chinese, then i stopped, switched and tried to finish the sentence in french, much to his bewilderment (and my own!). i hope he found his way to that hill.

portuguese/english are the languages i use to think, but chinese is the closest thing to my “second language” these days: when i communicate with a non-english speaking foreigner, i instantly speak in chinese. it’s unconscious and… weird.

which is why i really need to find someone to practice this with, before i forget it all. any tips?

sugar = gula in malay.

gula in portuguese = gluttony.

:)

BONO: Your desire for Europe is extraordinary to me, but you’ve followed through on it. I mean, is this where the languages come in? Did you learn French and German at school?

EDDIE: I learnt French at school but stopped when I was 16. When I first visited France, I’d go into a bar or restaurant and say, “Qu’est-ce que ils?”. I’d just keep going with my broken French. My rule was, communication first, grammar second.

BONO: I’m amazed that you can do stand-up in French.

EDDIE: Absolutely. My dream is for Europe to become a huge melting-pot. We need to be a melting-pot. We need to melt. So my doing a gig in French is to kick the melting-pot up. I want to do gigs in German, Russian, Spanish. And Arabic, because I was born in an Arabic country and the 9/11 thing.

BONO: Do you consider yourself European?

EDDIE: I consider myself British-European, like there are African- Americans and Italian- Americans. You can be Irish-European. Whether you’re Northern or Southern Irish, there’s this umbrella of Europeanness. I think if we can make it work in Europe, it’s almost a blueprint for the future of the world. If we can get all these countries, with all their languages, coming together to work in some shape or form, then the whole world can work. And if we can’t get it working in Europe, the world has got no chance. Those are the stakes.

from an interview with eddie izzard to the independent. the man has a brilliant comedy style that we can’t seem to get enough of – plus, a political conscience, and a love for researching stuff on wikipedia. if you go beyond the death star canteen lego sketches on youtube, you’ll find a peculiar comedian, worth exploring.

photo by davemorris on flickr.