A language ahead

I was taken by surprise when an MBA mate commented on my Sinhalese He actually told me that my sinhala was very good - not accented; not inaccurate; just perfect. Hmm… May be the sinhala only gets messed up when I give road instruction or directions to the driver which is not a very rare occurrence.

I am thankful to my neighbours with whom I grew up. Our common language of communication was singhala and if not for them, I think I may have ended up being as bad as my mates back in school. This might sound like a brag but I also am comfortable to use the word “know” for a couple of other languages including Divehi, Urdu and Arabic. Of course, most it I have forgotten now due to lack of being in touch. My dad who is very fluent in French never really got around spreading it to me so I have left that for the future. It’s really nice to know a lot of languages and lots of different cultures. It can take you a long way… especially if you are lost in the streets!