The Linguist

30 The Linguist Vol/65 No/3 ciol.org.uk/thelinguist REVIEWS A life with languages In English and Slovenian, Romana Sustar FCIL describes what it's like to grow up between cultures, and how each language expanded her life Slovenski pesnik Tone Pavček je zapisal: »Na svetu si, da gledaš sonce/ Na svetu si, da greš za soncem/ Na svetu si, da sam si sonce/ in da s sveta odganjaš – sence.« Sem jezikoslovka, marketinška strokovnjakinja in komunikatorka, jeziki pa so od nekdaj oblikovali moje življenje. Slovenija je država, kjer sem se rodila, slovenščina pa ena od korenin mojega otroštva. To je jezik, v katerem sem prvič izgovorila besedo mama, v katerem sem se naučila moliti in v katerem živijo moji najzgodnejši spomini. Toda identiteta, tako kot jezik, nikoli ne miruje. Zaradi vojne sem že zelo mlada zapustila dom in odraščala med različnimi državami, kulturami in jeziki. Moja identiteta se je skozi leta, tako kot jeziki, ki so me obdajali. Vsak kraj mi je nekaj dal, vsak jezik pa je odprl nov del mene. Slovenščino sem ohranjala s pisanjem dnevnikov od svojega štirinajstega leta. Pozneje sem jo študirala in poučevala na UCL, na School of Slavonic and East European Studies. Danes poučujem diplomate in veleposlanike, ki se pripravljajo na službovanje v Sloveniji, ter jim pomagam razumeti slovenski jezik, kulturo in zgodovino. Moj drugi poklicni svet je korporativni marketing, kjer sodelujejo z globalnimi tehnološkimi podjetji. Prevajam, tolmačim ter iščem zgodbe, ki si zaslužijo svoje mesto v slovenščini. Moja pot z angleščino se je začela, ko sem bila stara deset let. Bila je moj četrti jezik, za slovenščino, nemščino in latinščino, in bila je ljubezen na prvi pogled. Danes je angleščina jezik, v katerem največ delam, pa vendar se v njem vsak dan še vedno naučim česa novega. Nikoli nisem načrtovala življenja v Angliji. Iskala sem otok, kjer bi si lahko ustvarila življenje, in nekako je otok našel mene. Slovenščina nosi moje začetke. Angleščina nosi moje današnje življenje. Drugi jeziki živijo nekje vmes. Moje poslanstvo je, da slovenski jezik in kulturo predstavljam ter širim povsod, kjer lahko, in s tem počastim vse tiste, ki so se borili, da bi ta jezik preživel. Pa vendar med vsemi jeziki, ki jih govorim, še nisem našla tistega, v katerem bi besede »ljubim te« zvenele popolnoma tako, kot govori moje srce. The Slovenian poet Tone Pavček wrote: "You are here to turn your face toward the sun/ You are here to follow where its light leads/ You are here to become the sun yourself/ and with your own light, drive the shadows from the world." I am a linguist, marketer and communicator, and languages have always shaped my life. Slovenia is where I was born, and Slovenian is a root of my childhood. It is the language in which I first said 'mama', learned to pray and formed my earliest memories. Yet identity, like language, is never still. Because of war, I left home young and grew up between countries, cultures and languages. My identity changed, just as the languages around me changed. Each place added something; each language opened another part of me. I preserved my Slovenian by writing diaries (pictured) from the age of 14. Later, I studied and taught it, including at UCL's School of Slavonic and East European Studies. I now teach diplomats and ambassadors preparing to go to Slovenia, helping them understand the language, culture and history. My other professional world is corporate marketing, working with global technology companies. I also translate, interpret, and look for books that deserve a place in Slovenian. My journey with English began when I was ten. It was my fourth language, after Slovenian, German and Latin, and it was love at first sight. Today, English is the language I work in most, yet I still learn every day. I never planned to live in England. I was searching for an island where I might build a life, and somehow, the island found me. Slovenian carries my beginnings. English carries my life today. The other languages live somewhere in between. My mission is to promote Slovenian language and culture wherever I can, honouring those who fought for it to survive. Still, in all the languages I speak, I have not found one in which 'I love you' sounds completely like my heart.

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