Vol/51 No/1 2012FEBRUARY/MARCHTheLinguist25FEATurESlanguages they do not understand. "It wouldhave been easy just to approach aninternational theatre in each country but wewere conscious of the need for variety. So weapproached some national theatres, somebrand new theatres, some theatres that workwith very large companies, some that workwith just a couple of people doing the wholeplay, and people from different backgrounds,from circus, dance, operatic backgrounds, andeven movie stars", explains Bird. Ngakau Toa's version of Troilus and Cressidawill incorporate elements of Maori culture,including the haka; Arpana will bring music,dance and acting in the Bhangwadi theatrestyle to their Gujarati production of All's Wellthat Ends Welland Japanese company Chitenwill lend its minimalist vision to Coriolanus.Bird and his teamhave visited most of thecompanies in their home countries. "We'vetravelled around the world to watch them,"says Bird. They must be a big team then?"There's about four or five of us," he replies.Staging the spectacularFrom the initial contact and research trips rightthrough to organising the arrival of the foreigntheatre companies and staging each play, thelanguage challenges involved in putting on amultilingual festival must be huge. "Weanticipated it being very, very difficult", admitsBird, who speaks Danish -not one of thelanguages featured. "We frantically made linkswith all the cultural attachés from the differentcountries we were considering." This supporthas been helpful but, as they soon found out,in the international theatre community thereare always people who speak English.Nevertheless, Bird anticipates challengeswhen companies begin to arrive in April."They will do a couple of days' rehearsal herebefore playing and not every participant willspeak English at all." The Globe has beenconsidering a programme of bilingualinternships so that there is always someoneon-site who speaks the other language.Globe to Globe begins on 21 April with acarnival-inspired version of the poem Venusand Adonis. The Isango Ensemble promisesthat the 'heart of the original will be keptintact but the whole work will be seenthrough a South African prism', which seemsto exemplify the very ethos of the festival.Whether you simply want to sample theBard's work from another perspective or areinterested in watching the plays in yourlanguages, there are many exciting shows tochoose from. And if you can't decide, there isalways the Olympian ticket.For performance details and to book tickets,visit globetoglobe.shakespearesglobe.com. Ifyou speak Swahili, Shona, Dari or Korean andwould like to work as a Festival Ambassador,email . 'There's somethingmesmerising aboutsitting there andlistening to the musicof another language'WALKING THE BOARDSGrupo Galpão brings a circus-inspired versionof 'Romeo and Juliet' (above) to the Globe (left)the greatest English playwright," he adds."You're freed up to look at the costumes, listento the music, watch the movement, and toengage with the characters." "It allows us to experience these stories thatwe know very well through a different set ofspectacles. To engage with the way someonefrom Tokyo would do a Shakespeare play, orsomeone from Buenos Aires, is fascinating",he continues. "It's great for us to really openour eyes to the ways people are performing inother parts of the world."Scouting for talentAfter that crucial meeting, Dromgoole andBird must have asked themselves where tobegin. They looked first to the languageswidely spoken in London, including BrazilianPortuguese and Urdu, and to countries, suchas Armenia and Georgia, where Shakespeareis so frequently performed that the work hasbecome part of their own culture. They were, however, open to "good plays"from anywhere in the world. South Sudan is apoignant example: the Minister of Culture inthe newly formed government sent a 20-pageletter saying that participating in the festivalwould be a great moment in the life of theirnew nation. "The size of their desire to comehere was simply overwhelming," saidDromgoole. How could the Globe refuse?The South Sudan Theatre Group will performCymbeline in Juba Arabic. "We think it's thefirst time Shakespeare has ever beentranslated into that language", says Bird. It was important also to ensure that therewas a broad variety of genres and performers,especially given that Globe to Globe hopes toattract theatre-goers to multiple performances(you can see all 37 plays for just £100), many in© GUTOMUNIZ

26 TheLinguistFEBRUARY/MARCH www.iol.org.ukFEATURESJordan Lancaster learns Hebrew online through the ulpan system, designed to teach the language and culture to new immigrants to IsraelOne of the most infamous translation errorsof all time was made in Hebrew. The LatinVulgate translation of the biblical text ofExodus 34:29 by Saint Jerome states: 'Andwhen Moses came down from Mount Sinai,he held the two tables of the testimony, andhe knew not that his face was horned fromthe conversation of the Lord.' In fact, theoriginal Hebrew reads more like: 'Mosesknew not that the appearance of the skin ofhis face was radiant.' To give Saint Jerome hisdue, the original Hebrew word could meaneither 'horn' or 'irradiation'.1As a result,Michelangelo depicted Moses with horns inhis famous statue, located to this day in thechurch of Saint Peter in Chains, in Rome. The language of the modern state of Israel,Hebrew has been referred to as the HolyLanguage2since ancient times. Although itwas replaced by Aramaic as the everydaylanguage of the early Jews, it continued to beused for literary and religious purposes evenafter the fall of Jerusalem to the Romans in70AD. Today, Modern Hebrew is spoken bysome 7 million people in Israel, where it is anofficial language together with Arabic. Rebirth of Hebrew Modern Hebrew developed along with therise of Zionism in the late 19th century. EliezerBen-Yehuda (1858-1922) was the first to makeexclusive use of Hebrew in his home inJerusalemandhe devotedhis lifeto therevivalof the language through journalism, publishingand the establishment of schools. Thislinguistic hero 'made it possible for severalmillion people to order groceries, drive cattle,make love, and curse at their neighbours in alanguage which until his day had been fit onlyfor Talmudic argument and prayer.'3Ulpan and absorption Clearly, Zionism and Modern Hebrew areinextricably linked, and this is reflected in theIsraeli language teaching system to this day.An ulpan5is an institute or school for theintensive study of Hebrew, allowing newimmigrants to learn the language quickly andeffectively. The first ulpan was established inJerusalem in 1949, when the new countrywas faced with an influx of immigrants -refugees from war-torn Europe, oppressedcommunities from Africa and the MiddleEast, and others from all over the world.Although all were recognised as Jewish, theirlanguage and culture varied widely. More than 1.3 million immigrants have nowpassed through the ulpan system, which isoperated by the Ministry of ImmigrantAbsorption free of charge. Adults are taughtbasic language skills, together with thefundamentals of Israeli culture, history andgeography. According to the Ministry's Guideto Ulpan Study,6this represents a major step inthe assimilation process:'The importance of Hebrew ulpan as partof the absorption process cannot beoveremphasized. The language skills youacquire in ulpan will benefit you throughevery phase of your absorption, includingfinding a place to live, looking foremployment, and building relationships withveteran Israelis. During ulpan you will learnabout and experience Israeli society, politicsand culture, while getting to know thoseinstitutions, authorities and agencies thatyou will be dealing with in the future.'Yet it is not only those making aliyah(immigrating to Israel) who are interested instudying the language. Hebrew is learntmostly by students of Judaism and Israel, asQuestfor the holylanguageBen-Yehuda is therefore one of the mostimportant figures in the foundation of themodern Israeli state, and the main commercialthoroughfares of both Jerusalem and Tel Avivbear his name. Nonetheless, he wasostracised from the ultra-orthodox communityof the time, which viewed Hebrew as thelanguage of the prophets, not to be used foreveryday banalities. Ben-Yehuda spent much of his life creating aModern Hebrew dictionary. The language,which is written from right to left using the 22-letter Hebrew alphabet, had stoppeddeveloping its vocabulary when it had ceasedto be a spoken language almost two thousandyears previously. Words did not exist for manymodern concepts, so Ben-Yehuda borrowedwords from other Semitic languages, includingArabic, Assyrian and Coptic, and languagessuch as Greek, Latin, Polish and Yiddish. His legacy was famously defined by CecilRoth: 'Before Ben-Yehuda. Jews could speakHebrew; afterhim, they did.'4In1913, Hebrewbecame the official language of instruction inJewish schools in what was then Palestine. In1948, it became the official language of thenewly established State of Israel. © PRASENBERG, 'MOSES', 16/6/08 VIAWIKIPEDIA(CC BY 2.0)