What's in a Name?

Allow me to begin by apologizing for the significant length of time since my last blog post. I have decided that I want to blog when I feel most inspired to write something that I am spending time thinking about, which as it turns out, is almost every day. You may wonder then, why have I not been blogging more often? It is a good question, indeed, and the best answer I can give is that I have been lazy. I have spent time thinking and talking to a few of my friends here about some of the things on my mind, but I just haven’t been entirely motivated to put fingers to keys and type it out. Another thing I would like to mention, and apologize for ahead of time, is that the title of this blog post is somewhat deceiving. In fact, I don’t plan to write at all about names, their meanings, their associations with particular cultures, or how they affect the way a person is perceived. Indeed, that is another discussion I would like to have with myself, and then share with you. So, why then have I titled this blog in this way? I will attempt to answer this question in the following paragraphs.

After coming to Tanzania, I began learning Swahili. I must say that my thoughts regarding language acquisition have shifted somewhat after learning this language and then subsequently trying to live in the culture that speaks it. Before coming here, I took a foreign language in high school like everyone else, but the difference is that I was still living in America and when I left the classroom I could speak English. I didn’t have to rely on the Spanish I was learning to communicate needs or converse with people. Further, I was able to connect with the people I interacted with on a deeper level because we shared commonality in language. Once I hit the ground in Tanzania, I still had other Americans I saw every day during training, so all was not entirely lost. Fast forwarding 10 weeks, though, I found myself on my own and in my village with only Swahili speakers. Sure, I could communicate basic needs and converse a little, but the ability to connect with people on a deeper emotional and intellectual level was completely gone. Luckily, I have a phone and can call other PCV’s, but for all intents and purposes, I found myself immediately separated from the people I lived with.

As my Swahili has been improving, I have noticed a few things about language acquisition and how I now think about it. One can think about learning a new language as merely learning new words, comparing them to your native language, and trying in earnest to remember them. Of course then, you are faced with the task of trying to access the databank of knowledge that is the foreign language, as you try to form sentences and converse with people. It’s probably the case that you don’t stop comparing a foreign language to your native one until much later in the stages of learning the language, but what if we think about new language acquisition a little differently? Using the scenario that I have just described, we can think of language as a large set of words or phrases which are memorized so that you are capable of hearing the words, translating them to your native language, formulating a response in your native language, translating that response, and then delivering it to the opposing party. In other words, learning a new language is like learning a bunch of new definitions. I have decided though, that a language is so much more than this. A language is in the culture and in the people. It is one way that people express commonality in culture, by having similar ways of verbally and non-verbally communicating with each other. In fact, if this is the case, it becomes evident why one could expect various dialects of a language to exist. The particular dialect has been largely influenced by the culture in which it has developed. The words may be similar, but are used slightly differently or there may be entirely new words present in the language. Compare British English and American English. Also, think of communicating at the global level. Many people with different native languages communicate in English as a means to an end, and that can be really interesting as they each bring their own language and cultural influences to the linguistic table.

At this point, allow me to back up for a second with the way that we think about language. At the most basic level, a word is nothing more than a random arrangement of letters that we have decided to give a particular meaning to. For any critics reading this blog, let me clarify the previous statement. It is true that some words are formed as a result of adhering to specific rules set forth in a language. For example, the contraction “can’t” is spelled the way it is because we have rules in the English language that say that the word “cannot”, when used as a contraction, must be spelled this way. Therefore, by definition “can’t” is not a random arrangement of letters. Of course, other words are of historic origin from the most primitive languages and by virtue of being borrowed words or derivatives of borrowed words, they can’t be considered as consisting of a random arrangement of letters. When we think about the foundations of language, however, the random arrangement of letters makes sense. I can speculate that as we evolved and began writing things down, we assigned particular characters to particular sounds that we made when we communicated. Language can be thought of as an agreed upon, standardized way of communicating with people who decided to play by the same rules of that particular language. In that sense, a word or symbol is nothing more than an agent for provoking a particular response or feeling in an individual. We developed characters or letters, arranged them in some order, and assigned a particular meaning to them. We decided that when we see a particular “word” or symbol we will react in a certain way if we have learned or decided to play by the rules of that language.

In accordance with the previous discussion, we can say that as you have been exposed to a language and culture for long enough, you have been trained to respond to a set of verbal and non-verbal cues such that you are now able to adequately connect with the people you are interacting with. This sort of training is something that undoubtedly takes years of exposure to completely master. For example, at the present moment, I would say that I have become much more comfortable with my Swahili, but I still encounter challenges adequately understanding or formulating proper responses in social encounters. I can listen to what people have to say, understand their words, be able to translate them into English, but still not be entirely clear what the message is. The cultural or social context within which the word or words was used is unfamiliar to me, and not necessarily the words. The entire package that is “language fluency” is so much more than just understanding the definition of words. As I have learned it is also about being coached to produce a particular feeling or emotion when a word is heard within a particular social or cultural context. This indeed takes time, but rest assured I am working on it!

At this point, I should tie up a loosed end or two by clarifying my seemingly random title. I have only chosen this title because, as you know, I am in Africa at the moment, The Lion King was filmed in Africa (yes it was), and “what’s in a name” is a line said by Timon during the song “Hakuna Matata”. Further, I have decided that this title makes sense because, as far as I am concerned, “what’s in a name?” means something more like “the process of learning a new language, as Travis has experienced in Tanzania”. Of course, we can agree that these two arrangements of words do not convey the same meaning because we have been taught otherwise. If everyone would agree with my language revolution and then trained themselves long enough, we could eventually change the meaning of this phrase such that it evokes a different feeling or mindset when we hear it. The point I am trying to make is that a language is one of many agreed upon ways of conveying a particular message to another individual because it is capable of evoking a particular emotional response or mindset when used as dialogue between two communicators. We are trained, as learners, in our respective cultural context to produce this particular mindset or emotional response after we have been exposed to our language and culture for a significant period of time. It is my opinion, therefore, that it would be a pity to think of “language” as simply a bunch of words with associated definitions that are only memorized and then used in conversation.

In other news, I have been at my site for about 6 weeks now and all is going well. I started teaching a few weeks ago and the students are getting more used to me. At first, I practically had to threaten them to get them to talk to me in the classroom. Yes, I am joking but they didn’t want to talk in any language. I wasn’t entirely sure if they were shy because I was new or if they have just been taught to not speak in the classroom. After insisting it was OK if they talked to me, provided it was relevant to the lesson, they opened up a bit more. Outside of teaching, I feel as if I am integrating well into my community and I have begun talking more and more with the locals. In fact, many people are now calling me by name, and if they haven’t seen me for a few days some even call me on the phone to check up on me. Can you say INTEGRATION! I have also begun talking to some of the students about starting some groups outside of school, but there is no rush on that since I just got here. Basically, the groups could be anything from informal hangouts and talking in formal groups where we discuss teen issues, educate the villagers about various issues (e.g. HIV/AIDS, Malaria, etc), or even participate with nationwide youth groups carrying out fundraisers, or doing small business development projects. The small business development projects would be cool because I could teach them everything from managerial skills to opening a bank account and even creating some product or service and marketing it to a particular target audience within a given niche in the village. I will let you know more about that as time passes, though.

Also, a few words if any of my loyal readers want to send me anything in the mail. One of the biggest things I miss is letters, American candy, and American media, including new release movies, TV shows, and music! Of course, you’d send that on a flash drive. If you did want to send that, I would definitely appreciate it, but just contact me on Facebook first to make sure I don’t already have what you would send. You never realize how much you liked American pop music until you hear it in Tanzania. It makes you feel American for the moment. Candy has a similar effect! If you wanted to mail something, my address is

Travis Kocurek, PCV

P.O. Box 75

Gallapo Secondary School

Babati, Manyara, Tanzania

Also, if you do mail something a flat rate bag/large envelope is best. You can cram as much as you want into it for one price and the bags are better than flat rate boxes because as far as I understand, I won’t have to pay customs on them. The larger flat rate boxes are a little trickier in terms of avoiding customs fees. Thank you all so much for the support, and to my close friends and family, I love you all! Take care and stay in touch!!

Travis