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Making the right language choice
I had always wanted to learn Polish, since it's the language of my grandparents, but never had the opportunity. So in college, I studied Russian, as it was the language closest to Polish. While I was a senior in college, I took a polka band tour of Poland with my elderly aunt and uncle. I was one of five people under 65 years of age (two others being the polka band guy and his drummer). One of the stops on our tour was Lech Walesa's church in Gdansk. This made a huge impression on me as Poland was still communist then and this was the birthplace of the Solidarity movement. In the back of the church were some elderly women selling postcards and religious books. My aunt and uncle had gone to chat with them and one of the women asked me a question. I, of course, did not understand. I figured I could respond in English, which she undoubtedly wouldn't understand, or Russian, which she probably would. As a courtesy, I said Ne ponimayu (I don't understand) in Russian. The woman was shocked, like I had blasphemed in the church. My aunt and uncle chewed me out. How dare I speak Russian in Lech Walesa's church!! It was then I understood that you can't separate language from culture and history. - Susan Matala Tags: newsletter, Poland, Polish, Russian, story, travel
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