As anyone who has come to live in Israel who lives in Hebrew will admit – the native language slowly erodes. This was less of a problem for me when I was teaching in English, but even though I still direct a few doctorates, write poetry, read novels, research articles, etc. I often find myself missing a word in English and substituting it with another language.
Especially now, when I have been writing in Yiddish
And, although I’ve been studying Arabic and my understanding has increased dramatically, Yiddish is far more important – perhaps because the words used today in programs like Duolingo, and even sometimes in the comprehensive English-Yiddish dictionary, seem made-up substitutes to me. Like what you say in one language when you don’t have a word so you use one in your own language and give it a little accent to make it fit in. And the big thing about the loss of the original – the everyday words that no one ever wrote down – those are the words I connect to real people. And with every word forgotten, another victim becomes anonymous.
More on this tomorrow.