Friday Diary: The Smile In Her Voice
Shelagh Fogarty on why foreign languages are important, growing her hair and the joy in a Libyan girl's voice.
21 Oct 2011, 17:53
Gadaffi - History
different way. Yesterday, I spoke to a young woman in Misrata who was ecstatic to hear the Libyan leader was dead. However articulate she was about her country's situation, you could practically see the smile in her voice, and you could most definitely hear her hope. Grotesque pictures of a dead dictator aren't what Libya will build on. The energy and hope of it's people are its best bet.
* I helped my nine year old niece with her French homework this week and it got me thinking about how soon we should start to teach children foreign languages. From birth would be my preference. As a student in Barcelona I taught English to three year olds, teenagers, and adults of all ages. It's a practice you'd never see so routinely in the UK. Even if all you have is a vestige of what you learned at school, give children a taste of it right from the word go, allez, vamos! See how easy it is?
* I remember a New Year in Normandy with some friends. Heavy snow reduced our party plans to drinks with the elderly French couple from the neighbouring farmhouse. They returned the compliment by inviting us the next day for a mid morning snifter and snacks. Through a hungover haze, my friends appointed me 'interpreter-in-chief. We talked about the snow, their children, what we all did for a living, then out came the family photos and some wonderful personal memories of wartime France. I can't recall now why but at this point the conversation hit the buffers. A few awkward minutes followed and every pair of English eyes was on me, willing me to find my French mojo again and oil the social wheels. I noticed a large rifle leaning against the tall fireplace and as if from nowhere heard myself saying fluently and confidently "ah, est-ce que tu fais de la chasse?". The relief in the room was palpable as Monsieur Roussillon smiled broadly and began talking animatedly about shooting things. I hadn't seen or used those words since I was fifteen. They were straight out of my textbook, nestling somewhere in my brain for twenty years, waiting, should I ever need them. Once in, it's never lost. Start now. Maintenant. Ahora.
* I'm writing this as Alex, my hairdresser, turns back time on the colour front. I'm growing my hair after years of having it very short.
All those 3am starts weren't compatible with hair that required attention first thing. It's a drag growing your hair. There's always that in between phase when it's neither long nor short but I'm thankfully through the worst. I'm a firm believer that what a woman does with her hair says a lot about her. My 'crop' years reflected a period of great practicality and a lot of early morning demands on my time and energy. The longer look reflects a less arduous schedule and a desire for a more carefree time ( I know,I know, I'm starting to sound like a shampoo ad.) So what's with Hilary? The U.S. Secretary of State is a few cuts ahead of me and now wears her hair long, layered, and Hollywood blonde. What does it say about her I wonder? My guess is it's a diplomatic move on her part which sends a subliminal message. An American power broker operating in some of the toughest rooms in the world with some of the toughest men in the world. The Goldilocks look is designed to wrong foot them. It's " what? little ol' me?" if ever I saw.
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