New language charms people

By Sara Palmquist in Motala-Vadstena Tidning

Translated by Guilherme da Silva Braga (guizomail@gmail.com)

Gratias-Thank you. Homine-Man. Tabaco-Tobacco. No, these are not taken from a Portuguese, Spanish or Latin lexicon. This language is called Interlingua, and during the last days it was diligently spoken in Vadstena.

About twenty people sit together in the premises of the Vadstena public school. In front of them, a man in his forties is speaking a language that sounds like a mixture of Spanish, English and Portuguese, with a touch of Danish. The latter might be explained by the fact that the man, Thomas Breinstrup, is a Dane. He is the president of the Danish Society for Interlingua, and Interlingua is the language he has just spoken.
Together with a group of about forty people, Thomas Breinstrup is in Vadstena to participate in the Interlingua Camp which takes place in the city.
“For five days we have talked, read, sung, discussed and learned Interlingua,” says Thomas Breinstrup.
Interlingua has existed since 1951. The language is the result of a group work involving European and American linguists, and it is built from many other existing languages.
“What makes Interlingua so fantastic is that it is easy for people from different countries to understand it. It is an international language,” says Thomas Breinstrup.
He is supported by Barbara Rubinstein, who came from Gothemburg to participate in the camp.
“Anyone who can speak a European language can understand Interlingua. I am from Poland and I think there are many similarities between Polish and Interlingua.”
But what about English? Isn’t it international enough?
“The difference is that native speakers of English will always speak English better than other people. And language is an instrument of power, as we all know,” says Thomas Breinstrup.
Ingvar Stenström is the president of the Swedish Society for Interlingua and possibly the person who knows the language the most. He had his first contact with the language fifty years ago.
“It is an easy language; all its grammar fits in an A4 page. It is spoken by people all around the world. Here in the camp, for example, besides participants from the North, we have people from Spain, Germany and Japan,” says he.
Participants in the camp want people to find out the advantages offered by Interlingua, so a little demonstration was organized in Vadstena on Saturday night.
“We went out with ads and megaphones and we distributed leaflets to curious people in Vadstena. And then we read, sang songs and read poems in Interlingua – some poetry by Tomas Tranströmer, among others. But even Shakespeare and the Bible have been translated too,” says Ingvar Stenström.