The EU Commission recommends to learn foreign languages for more mobility in Job and study. However, many people in Eastern Europe need much more than the freedom to travel, to be truly free, says Lavinia Braniște.
The entrance examination for the foreign language Department of the University of Cluj (Klausenburg) Romania, I graduated in 2002. Looking back, I have the feeling that I had reached 18,19 years the height of my competitiveness. So as I assess my life today, I feel that it was my most important victory, to have once the subjunctive in French dominated. After the successful entrance exam, I had to decide for a area of expertise. While I could have an extra-ordinary combination to choose, but I stuck to the classic Pair: English and French. I thought I’d go on the safe side – with two internationally widespread languages can I find a job.
At that time, the mechanisms of the translation market, were still a stranger to me: The most famous languages to bring ridiculously low fees, it is a smarter step, a “niche language”. But there are no guarantees that the language is always as exotic. An example: When I worked in 2012 in a company for movie subtitles, conquered Turkish series, the Romanian TV stations, Translators for Turkish to have appeared everywhere, like mushrooms after the rain. They were even recruited directly from the seminar rooms of the University. Turkish, a previous “niche language”, was a Translator in Romania, suddenly financially lucrative, such as English.
Constantly it comes to jobs
Therefore, I thought in the beginning, I would have English and French, a large degree of freedom – with two mandatory languages but, honestly, neither then nor today will impress anyone. It’s where I was, on the concept of freedom by foreign languages, in the documents of the EU Commission on the Teaching and Learning of languages in the member States is very present. The most important Argument for the early Learning of at least two foreign languages: they will give you the freedom to work in another country and to study. It was strange how often in these documents the word “work” occurs, as the most important goal of all EU would be interested-citizens (whether in foreign languages or not) to find a job in another country. Apparently the Motor that drives people in the fight is the Job. It is the most common and most important Argument.
Through education, more freedom: children on the way to school in a Romanian village
In connection with the two by the EU-Commission recommended third-I wish to raise two issues in Eastern Europe languages: The weak quality of the education systems in our countries to a high degree of functional illiteracy, and the lack of interest in their own neighboring countries.
Buying votes for a bag of flour
Functional illiteracy means that people can read, but the Text read do not understand and have no own opinion about it can comment. Unfortunately, very many are in Romania, the country in this Situation. There are people who can not afford in most cases to send their children to school, or others who can afford it, but the Use of the school do not understand. The people of these communities know their own language and culture only with great difficulty, you do not have access to schools and libraries. Of a corrupt state funded education systematically, you will be kept in precarious Milieus in which they are easy to manipulate.
I’m almost sure that the situation in the neighbouring countries similar to Romania is not a special case, neither in the Good nor in the Bad. For these people, the European idea is, two foreign way of learning languages for mobility in the Job and study, very far! In addition, the EU Commission tells us, on top of that, it is necessary to know foreign languages in order to be an “active” citizens of Europe. However, as a man can grasp this concept of Europe, whose voice is in the case of elections already for a bag of flour, or by a sermon in the village Church? Or, even worse, by the threats of the mayor, the shortening of children’s money? For these people, freedom is not primarily the free travel through Europe, but their own education, which would enable them to be masters of their own opinions and decisions. I would be happy if Europe would do more to ensure that all citizens have a decent standard of living and free – formed.
We know our neighboring countries
The second aspect I need to think of in connection with the foreign languages we learn in school, or in the course of our life, how little we know in Eastern Europe, our neighbors. We do not learn the languages of the neighboring countries in the school. If the learned foreign languages help us to work and study abroad, it is clear that we do not want to work in this Region at the neighbors and study. The explanation is obvious: We have a sad history, which has left the same economic Disaster. Our wishes are directed to the dazzling West. This is understandable. But we should not even know the literature of the neighbors? Not even your culture, we have so much in common?
For us, in Romania, there is actually an important language barrier: with the exception of the Republic of Moldova, our neighbors speak languages from other families, some even with a different Alphabet, thus, from our point of view hard-to-reach and exotic. We would, for example, the neighbors of Italy, would find it much easier, the language simple so catch up on – so to speak, for the fun of it. (Editor’s note. the editors: Romanian is a romance language, like Italian.)
If translated books are a wonder of the same
A publisher once said at an Event in the book industry, he would have to publish nine bestsellers, the cost for a single non-commercial book to compensate. But unfortunately even these do not come often-the commercial adventure of the publisher, from the Anglo-Saxon, or from the “major” cultures. At the Moment, the Translations from the languages of our neighbouring countries are still financing programs of several institutions, depending on whether it is European or not. They are published by little visible publishers, their range is low. For example, I have read Croatian authors in English (Robert Periši) or Spanish (Roman Simi), because they are not translated into Romanian. They are available in “large” languages, is like a miracle.
Foreign languages open doors to great cultures and bring us the great freedom to study in the wide, wide world and work. But apparently the little freedom remains, to get to know our neighbours, something that can only be achieved by very large efforts.
The Romanian writer and literary translator Lavinia Braniște lives and works in Bucharest. Your book with the Romanian original title “Interior zero” was elected in 2016 in Romania for the best novel of the year. In 2018, the German Translation appeared under the title of “Zero point Something”.
Translation from Romanian: Dana Alexandra Scherle