In love with the language of love
INFORMATION technology specialist, Sharon Colquhoun loves the French language – the gentle rise and fall of that most favourite of continental accents; the passionate expressions which infuse all conversation without sacrificing subtle meaning; and for all practical purposes, the language of international diplomacy.
So very fitting it was, therefore, that this talented young woman captured first prize for her poetry reading at “Lire en Fete” (in English, “The Reading Fair”) hosted by the Alliance Française/the French Alliance, on October 24th at the Alliance’s Lilford Avenue address.
With keen ears supplied by the panel of judges which included Alliance president Pierre Lemaire and Alliance director Marie-Rose Lafleur, the Alpha Academy graduate delivered her rendition of Déjeuner du Matin (translated “Lunch in the Morning”), a poem by Jacques Prévert, well-known French poet from Neuilly-sur-Seine, on the doorsteps of Paris. It was the result of two hours of practice and coaching under the equally sharp ears of veteran Alliance teacher Laurice Barnaby.
Colquhoun’s love affair with the French language, coupled with her commitment to “getting it right”, brought her through what was to be her first performance on stage, with an audience of some 70 students and teachers of French from the University of the West Indies and the University of Technology.
“I researched the author’s style so that his mood was portrayed,” she said. It was an approach which paid handsome artistic dividends, enabling her to cop that sought-after first prize of complimentary nightly tickets to the Francophone Film Festival in November, one of the must-see items on Kingston’s hectic annual social calendar.
Colquhoun admits she has had “a natural dispensation” for French which started during second form at Alpha. Her teacher Madame Ingram was a model teacher of foreign languages, a stickler who was “very particular about intonation and delivery.”
She recalls that this unforgettable professional regarded accuracy in speaking the language as almost sacred, where her students were not permitted to distort pronunciation. Understandably, the young Colquhoun fell in love with what she describes as her former teacher’s “sense of discipline associated with French”.
After Alpha, Colquhoun had a new sister-in-law from Haiti who would bring her French literature and music from well-known singer Nana Mouskouri, in which she happily immersed herself.
If indeed the best of love affairs should be fed by a good dose of competition, apart from her 14-year-old daughter Laura, Colquhoun shares her heart with the field of information technology, in which she has worked for one of Jamaica’s leading commercial banks for some 19 years.
And it was through IT training experiences and social programmes at church that she came to an important realisation. She found she was interested in voluntary public service at the international level and that most international bodies, (including those she enjoys with operations in environmental protection and management, and community development), required candidates with proficiency in foreign languages, especially in French.
That is where her enrolment at the Alliance comes in. Having registered in September 2007, Colquhoun is enthusiastic about her progress so far.
“The Alliance Française has a broader programme of culture and festivals which provides a better forum to develop language skills faster. Culture evolves over time. The Alliance assures an environment where the language spoken is the language of the day. It’s a complete environment,” she said.
That complete environment at the Reading Fair also featured two days of workshops on films inspired by French novels, brought alive by the Alliance’s teachers and by famous Caribbean poet and playwright Jean Small.
Poetry has now become Colquhoun’s cupid. In anticipation of her next trip to Europe, she points out, “I’m building my library of French books. And I’ll be able to do it in a discourse about my own culture and heritage.”
