Quotes About Communication

Something happened when the house was dark. They were able to talk to each other again.

Glowing screens, increasingly foldable, portable, companionable, anticipating any possible question the human brain might generate.

We were stating facts and at the same time arguing, an argument whose depths only he and I could fully comprehend.

Perchè alla fine per imparare una lingua, per sentirsi legati a essa, bisogna avere un dialogo, per quanto infantile, per quanto imperfetto.

Were her mother ever to stand before her, even if Bela could choose any language on earth in which to speak, she would have nothing to say. But no, that's not true. She remains in constant communication with her. Everything in Bela's life has been a reaction. I am who I am, she would say, I live as I do because of you.

Le parole sconosciute rappresentano un abisso vertiginoso, fecondo. Un abisso che contiene tutto ciò che mi sfugge, tutto il posibile.

Se fosse possibile colmare la distanza tra me e l'italiano, smetterei di scrivere in questa lingua.

Ci sono tantissime cose che continuano a confondermi in italiano. Le preposizioni, per esempio.

So che non è possibile conoscere una lingua straniera alla perfezione. Non a caso, ciò che mi confonde di più in italiano è l'uso dell'imperfetto rispetto al passato prossimo.

But it was another to be authoritative; Bengali had never been a language in which she felt like an adult.

To translate a book is to enter into a relationship with it, to approach and accompany it, to know it intimately, word by word, and to enjoy the comfort of its company in return.

But his father is not the type to admit such things, to speak openly of his desires, his moods, his needs.

The better I understand the language, the more confusing it is.

In American, when I was young, my parents always seemed to be in mourning for something. Now I understand: it must have been the language.

We were all waiting for my father, waiting for him to return and explain, if only by his presence, why we were sitting together drinking tea.

When you live without your own language you feel weightless and, at the same time, overloaded. You breathe another type of air, at a different altitude. You are always aware of the difference.

To translate is to alter one's linguistic coordinates, to grab on to what has slipped away, to cope with exile.

In a sense I'm used to a kind of linguistic exile. My mother tongue, Bengali, is foreign in America. When you live in a country where your own language is considered foreign, you can feel a continuous sense of estrangement. You speak a secret, unknown language, lacking any correspondence to the environment. An absence that creates a distance within you.

He had wanted to say to her then, You could unpack some boxes. You could sweep the attic. You could retouch the paint on the bathroom windowsill, and after you do it you could warn me so that I don't put my watch on it.

she has learned that her husband likes his food on the salty side, that his favorite thing about lamb curry is the potatoes, and that he likes to finish his dinner with a small final helping of rice and dal.

in August to celebrate an important anniversary of her in-laws. "I wish I didn't have to go, after three days with them I start to lose it." I almost ask: Isn't that the case with your husband and kids, with your house? Isn't that why you're always traveling, why you leave them behind every other week? I don't say this. I'm fond of my friend, I let her blow off steam. The sun beats down on us and chafes the skin below my sweater.

Credo che tradurre sia il modo più profondo, più intimo di leggere qualcosa. Una Traduzione è un bellissimo incontro dinamico tra due lingue, due testi, due scrittori. Implica uno sdoppiamento, un rinnovamento. Nel passato amavo tradurre dal latino, dal greco antico, dal bengalese. È stato un modo di avvicinarmi alle diverse lingue, di sentirmi legata ad autori lontanissimi da me, nello spazio e nel tempo.

Imparare una lingua straniera è il modo essenziale per integrarsi con gente nuova in un nuovo Paese. Rende possibile un rapporto. Senza la lingua non ci si può sentire una presenza legittima, rispettata. Si rimane senza voce, senza potere.

L'inglese e l'italiano sembrano i punti più vicini. Avendo in comune molte parole di origine latina, condividono un certo territorio. Inutile dire che mi capita spesso in italiano di incontrate una parola che conosco già grazie all'equivalente inglese. Non posso negare che la mia comprensione dell'inglese mi aiuti. Ma può ingannarmi.