The Linguist

30 The Linguist Vol/63 No/4 ciol.org.uk/thelinguist REVIEWS Translation as Home Ilan Stavans University of Toronto Press 2024, 372pp; ISBN 9781487547929 Hardback, £49 amenable account of the challenges faced by immigrants trying to communicate in the host country language, and their resourcefulness and resolve in overcoming them. The main strength of the book lies in its variety. Isolated stories of immigrants' struggles with language and other issues can be fascinating and even moving, but what is needed for a convincing scientific study is a sizeable volume of such data, properly collated and unified. This is what the authors and contributors of Life in a New Language have achieved. Using data from six distinct research projects conducted over 20 years and involving 130 participants, they have distilled their findings to gain unique insights into migrants' real learning experiences. The fieldwork, focused on Australia, was mainly carried out at adult education centres, community language schools and workplaces, in addition to conversations recorded in more informal settings. Among the broad range of individual case studies, the book sheds much-needed light on the troubles faced by 'economic' migrants, many of them well qualified and holding international certificates attesting to their linguistic proficiency, who understandably receive less media attention than people trying to escape poverty or war. In fact, language comprehension difficulties are experienced by immigrants across social backgrounds. Many of those arriving in Australia as students or qualified professionals face a rude awakening. The "mismatch between the English they bring and the English they encounter" often comes as a shock, resulting in stress and disillusionment. Confident speakers in their home contexts, they find they can hardly understand a word in everyday exchanges. The authors blame this largely on the home nations' teaching priorities, where an excessive focus on formal exams divorces language proficiency from the contexts in which language is used and from the communicative purpose it is used for. This commendable study will undoubtedly achieve its goal of raising awareness of the issues faced by migrants navigating life in a new language. Ross Smith MCIL CL Life in a New Language Ingrid Piller et al Oxford University Press 2024, 216pp; IBSN 9780190084295 Paperback, £19.99 Translation as Home: A multilingual life is essentially a personal festschrift drawing on multiple items which have appeared either as articles written by Ilan Stavans or as interviews, many of which have been done with his editor Regina Galasso. As an Ashkenazi Jew brought up in Mexico City, he can provide insights not only into growing up in a multilingual environment, but also into hybrid languages: Yiddish and Hebrew (but not Haketia, a version of Hebrew found in North Africa); Portunhol, that mélange of Spanish and Portuguese found mainly between Argentina and Brazil; and Spanglish, an incredible blend of the two main languages of California and the Sagüesera (i.e. the South-West Area that was once part of New Spain). The idea of translation being at home reflects the comfort to be found not only in sinking back into something familiar, and perhaps even nostalgic, but also in something which draws in all the cultural elements that the language brings with it. It may even be a form of cultural refuge when one is in an alien or unwelcoming environment. Translation as Home is very wide-ranging. It looks at hybrid languages, which raises the interesting question of what constitutes a language versus a dialect, a pidgin or an informal means of communication when a whole range of people and cultures come together in a new environment – something which has been identified in London schools. But there is also a strong intellectual element in Stavans' work, with Hebraic sources ranging from the poet and philosopher Yehuda Halevi (1075-1141 CE) to Isaac Berliner, who collaborated with the Mexican muralist Diego Rivera. The Mexican element is also clear in the detailed references to the visionary Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz (1651-1695) and the philosopher Alfonso Reyes (1889-1959). The role of the translator takes centre stage throughout the book and raises uncomfortable questions such as whether the translation can be better than the original. This is an unusual and, in places, disturbing book for the insights it provides into not only hybrid languages but also hybrid cultures. It is much to be recommended. Professor Tim Connell Hon FCIL Of all the obstacles faced by newly arrived migrants in their country of adoption, the language barrier is arguably the most daunting. Anyone who doubts this should read Life in a New Language, a rigorous yet

• Cover