Funnier in English, Sadder in Arabic
An Egyptian stand-up comedian who performs in both languages explains why his jokes change personality when he switches, and what his mother thinks of the English ones.
The Grandfather Nobody Can Answer
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Show notes
Three generations, three languages, one kitchen
Mr Rajendran came to Toronto in 1986. His children grew up bilingual and his grandchildren understand Tamil but answer in English. Lerato sat with all three generations around one table in Scarborough and let them talk, with translation only where they asked for it.
- Why the middle generation chose English at home and what they regret
- The grandchildren on understanding every word and freezing when they try to speak
- Tamil school on Saturdays and why it did not take
- What Mr Rajendran says when he is alone with the youngest
- A small plan the family made by the end of the recording
This episode has subtitled Tamil passages in the transcript. Thank you to the Rajendran family.
Transcript
Hello, I am Lerato Dlamini and this is Mother Tongue, Borrowed Words, the show about the languages we speak and the people they make us. I grew up speaking Sesotho at home, isiZulu on the street and English at school, so I know how a family can hold three languages and still miss each other. This week we are in a kitchen in Scarborough, Toronto, with the Rajendran family. Mr Rajendran arrived from Jaffna in 1986. His children speak Tamil and English. His grandchildren understand every word he says and cannot answer him. I asked all three generations to sit at one table and talk, and what came out was more honest than any of them expected. We cover Saturday Tamil school, the choice the middle generation made, and the quiet conversations a grandfather has with the youngest when nobody else is listening. You are listening on Witspeak Podcasts.
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