TTT 8: Hilton Head, Rollout, Projection
இரவு வணக்கம் (iravu vaNakkam), Buenas Noches, and Good Evening - let's get into it!
Thing I did
25 of my family members spent the week in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina for my aunt’s 60th birthday.
It was my first opportunity speaking Tamil with my extended family; aunts, cousins, and even cousins! It went better than I expected. We deepened bonds with daily daiquiris at the Frosty Frog, sunny beach days, and long conversations.
I’m so re-energized and ready to get back at it.
Tweet I loved
What I liked about this tweet was how simple it was.
I am asked to consult on how teams at my job should rollout their code. I usually reply to them with a version of the above. They rarely understand and come back months later with a slightly different version of this same problem.
These teams will learn more by rollout more frequently to get the reps in.
Thought I had
Not all relatives are helpful for practicing speaking in your mother tongue.
I have several uncles that were quick to correct my Tamil but couldn’t explain why. I make decisions with justifications, so it’s frustrating to not understand why they’re correcting you. Later my aunt told me my original word was correct, colloquially, just not in formal Tamil.
If we are speaking, obviously the colloquial form fits better.
It made me wonder, “Why are they so quick to correct even when they don't understand why?”
I spoke to my Appa about a group chat he was in with his high school classmates. He told me his classmates that went to Norway and Germany never learned English and their formal written Tamil in the group chats is so formal that it’s difficult for him to follow. He’s not reading formal Tamil on a regular basis so it’s not second nature.
I’d never guess in a million years that my relatives might be afraid of forgetting formal Tamil.
They’d always been so confident about their knowledge of the language. It was a source of pride. It opened my eyes.
Sometimes when our relatives are bothering us about something, it’s just projection.
If you get tomorrow off, cherish it. I'd love to hear any feelings you felt while reading this and until next time - be easy.
Love,
Janahan
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