The demise of my mother tongue Part II

Last week I was ranting about my inability to speak and write Norwegian correctly. Although I still struggle with this humiliating problem on a daily basis, I think I might have spotted a light in the other end of the tunnel.

This light which I am speaking of came to me in an epiphany during one of my classes. I was attending my first lecture in "Scandinavian culture landscapes". Don’t ask me why I even signed up for this class...I doubt I will find use for this knowledge as a microbiologist...but hey, I needed some extra credits this semester…and I don’t mind reading about cows. Anyway, the Norwegian professor was speaking English...or he was trying to speak English. We had several exchange students from Germany and Spain and one from Slovakia or maybe it was the Czech Republic...and I wonder if they understood anything of what he was saying. He was talking about how the farmers would collect the "uraine" (urine) and dung from the animals to use as fertilizer, and how the landscape had changed over the years in all of Djurup (Europe)...intermingled with these words came pure Norwegian words as well as some correct English words.

I remember at one point, after having heard Djurup for the first time, I had to turn my head so that the professor wouldn’t see me smiling...I had a hard time keeping my act together trying not to giggle…but I glanced over at one of the exchange students and she was nodding her head, paying attention to what the professor was saying. And it dawned on me that maybe this guy is me in the future..?-Except that I will hopefully still be a woman...But maybe he is incapable of noticing his mixed language. All the Norwegian words intertwined with the English ones...he probably doesn’t even know! Norwegian words with an English pronunciation, and English words with a definite Norwegian pronunciation...

Its terrifying to get a glimpse of your future like that...I guess there is a reason why time travels are so hard to come by...besides the fact that its still fairly impossible, its also highly disturbing to see what’s waiting for you. Although it was also sort of comforting to see that there are others in the same situation...struggling with the same issues. I am not alone.

This has made me a lot more determined to fight my linguistic demons…

I shall not surrender!