My Voice

"Poor thing. She doesn't understand a word we say."

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Not quite true.�

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When I was first assigned a teaching post by the British Council, I made the mistake of thinking that I would be a teacher. "You are not a teacher. You are our mediator. In this school, the teachers speak very poor English. You must not only improve the English of our students, but also of our teachers. Do not let anyone know you speak Italian."�

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Little did I realise how difficult my mission would be. I think the phrase "poor English" was a euphemism for "no English".�

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The English department held a meeting to introduce me to the team. With my true linguistic identity a secret, I presented myself in my best English, feeling confident that I would get a welcoming response.�

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The first question was, (even before a greeting me) "but, does she speak Italian?" The Head gave the rehearsed response: "No. She is the "madrelingua" that speaks no Italian." To my surprise, an outcry of self pity broke out. They started talking amongst themselves asking, "how on earth do we communicate with her?!?". �I guess they didn't think about using English to communicate. Go figure. This fear of speaking English turned into a whole week of avoiding English. They felt sorry for me but more for themselves. I only know this because i was happily eavesdropping instead.�

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So, what about the bambinos' English? Let's just say that the teacher had previously taught the class the command "lis-t-en" but pronouncing the "t" (Try it. It's shocking). I hope that my time teaching here will at least give the students and teachers a more anglicised future.�

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For the record, you do not pronounce the "t" in listen.�

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