A Fast Way to Access Early Hurts
My first response when I read Omodele’s suggestion [see previous article] to conduct an International RC workshop in Igbo or another Global South language was “Oh yes!” and then “Oh no!”
I think it is a very good idea. I would want to participate, as it would be a fast way for me to access and discharge old feelings of humiliation, inferiority, superiority, and extreme discomfort.
I am an old, white English/Irish woman who has lived all her life in an English-speaking environment. I was not taught another language in school and was never encouraged to learn one.
Mostly, I was never in a position where I needed to know another language. However, once when I was very young, I visited France and stayed overnight with a family who spoke no English. I knew only a few words of French, and I felt hugely embarrassed and humiliated every time we were all together in the room. It was excruciating!
Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire, England
Reprinted from the e-mail discussion list for RC Community members
(Present Time 208, July 2022)