Memoir - Rainier Fourie
Memoir
– Rainier Fourie
Whenever
people ask me what is my first language; I never really know what to answer. Do
I say English or Afrikaans. Two languages, One answer, and both never really
seem like the right answer. I suppose that part of my identity is shady, is
mystified and I feel like I wont ever really know.
I
was born in Bellville, South Africa, a city that is part of the “Greater city”
of Cape Town. I moved to Viriginia, USA just before my 3rd birthday.
So did I learn English first or Afrikaans. People say the best time for a child
to learn a language is between that 1-4 age gap range. I was in America during
90% of that time. So did I learn English first or did I learn Afrikaans first?
This question always puzzled me. It deosnt help when your parents say “Ugh,
Don’t worry, you learned both at the same time because we spoke to you in both,
English and Afrikaans”. To me, it just sounds like a “lawyer” answer. Answered
it but skirted around a concrete truth.
In
America, until I moved back to South Africa when I was 11 (then moving to the
UAE like 11 months later), my parents always spoke English and Afrikaans at
home. I could always understand it but it will just be words or phrases like;
“Go get this”, “Go do this”, “Stop doing this”, “You ganna get in trouble”, you
can probably imagine the type of child I was. When I moved to South Africa for
the year, I learned Afrikaans for the first time in a class. I learned really
quickly, because I understood most of it, so I just learned how to read, write
and speak basically. It helped that my cousin spoke to me everyday in Afrikaans
and helped me with Afrikaans homework, while I helped her with her English
homework. So knowing this, is English or Afrikaans my first language?
When
people ask me, I either say, Afrikaans or I learned both at the same time. I
say Afrikaans because that make same feel more ingrained and part of my
culture, The South Africa, in me. I can speak Afrikaans fluently, I can write a
letter if I wanted to, I can read a book in Afrikaans, I cant even speak in a
South African accent. BUT, English though. I technically probably, surely,
learned English the more conventional way. I lived in America for 8 years,
engrossed and emerged in the USA culture and language. Went through Pre-K,
Kindergarten, and the whole of primary school. I grew up in English. For a long
time I couldn’t speak Afrikaans. I had an American accent where I used to
correct my cousins from saying “Renier” ( in a Afrikaans accent), to “My name
is Rain-EAR” (in an American accent, that I lost). South Africa has a hold on
my soul that cant be broken, yet I feel like the logical answer would be to
say, that my first language is English.
But, Afrikaans is my first language, and nothing can really change that.
“Live your life, because no one else can” right?
I loved your memoir so much!! I loved the anecdote you used, the personal touch you added, especially the statement about lawyers. It really expressed your voice and made your memoir very interesting. I really enjoyed the insight you put into this memoir, as you were trying to relate your identity to the language you learned first (and well, you’re not even sure). It was a very well-written piece of work, but as a suggestion, you could add more dialogue to follow the conventions of a memoir and also add some hindsight wisdom, like a reflection on past actions. But seriously, it was amazing!
ReplyDeleteThe memoir gives an interesting insight on your conflict between mother tongue and second language, which many can definitely relate to. A personal voice is well heard throughout the text, as the language is presented in a more casual/informal convention. However, some grammatical and simple spelling mistakes are seen. Re-reading the piece would benefit the quality of the work, as it would get rid of these simple errors. Personally, this mother tongue/second language dilemma is an issue I relate to as well. But I always resort to saying that I learnt my mother tongue first before English, as I only began learning English once attending school. The clear format of a memoir is seen, as it promotes a personal voice and shares a part of your life.
ReplyDeleteYour memoir gave some personal insight about your background on both English and Afrikaans. It was anecdotal and chatty , giving personal perspectives on how your development of your language started. You shared a solution to your linguistic struggles, also giving a perspective on what your "first language" really is, giving an ideal yet opinionated statements towards your "first language" which could appeal to your audiences. Your voice was very dynamic giving bold statements and quotas on given contexts. There were some minor errors within your writing, like some repetitive words/statements, So did I learn English first or Afrikaans? was repeated a lot in the second paragraph though this mistake didn't really impact the memoir. In my opinion I would love a more quirky personality or some aspects of comedy, overall a well written memoir.
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