Málfríður - 15.03.2010, Blaðsíða 8

The Association of Foreign Language Teachers in
Iceland has made Vigdís Finnbogadóttir a lifetime
honorary member of STIL. In the early years of her
adult life, before she became the president of Iceland,
Vigdís was a French teacher, and has throughout
her life been an advocate for language learning. In
1998 she was nominated Goodwill Ambassador of
Languages at UNESCO, and is relentlessly working
to promote the linguistic and cultural richness of the
world, in spite of the fact that she is now celebrating
the event of her “four-times-twentieth” birthday, as
she refers to it, in the style of the French. On this
occasion the president of STIL had the opportunity
to share a moment with Vigdís at her beautiful ances-
tral home on the University of Iceland campus.
Listening to Vigdís describing how her interest in
culture and languages was ignited, a picture emerges
of parents who not only managed to create a loving
home, but also a harbor which fostered curiosity in
seeing the world and a thirst for learning languages.
Her mother read to her children from foreign picture
books, translating into Icelandic simultaneously, but
the daughter wanted to learn to read and understand
herself what these foreign words meant. She observed
her parents read foreign books and keeping stacks of
reading material at hand in several languages. There
was a map of Europe on display in the house, and for-
eign places and friends were talked about as if they
were nearby. She too wanted to see those places, and
was afraid that they would be destroyed in the war
before she would have a chance to do so. It almost
sounds like her parents had learned the theories of
whole language learning before they were even put
on paper, and created the ideal learning environ-
ment, modeling literacy and foreign language use in
the home. Entering elementary school run by foreign
nuns in Landakot, and listening to them speak Danish
among themselves, further sparked her eagerness to
learn foreign languages.
As she grew up and went to school, the curricu-
lum included five mandatory language courses in:
Danish, English, German, French and Latin. Vigdís
found learning Latin to be invaluable, providing a
sound basis for language learning since so many
international words are derived from Latin roots.
Being able to understand the Latin quotations on
monuments and buildings when she started travell-
ing in Europe was deeply rewarding.
The arts have always been of particular interest to
Vigdís, and that is what led her to France after grad-
uating from Junior College in Iceland. She realized
that France was a vibrant cultural center and a hub
for new trends and developments in the world of
arts. She finds that among the most important turns
in her life was the opportunity to study in France,
become immersed in the culture and acquire fluency
in the language and literature of the French-speak-
ing world.
The love of France and French culture was a driv-
ing force in her career as a French teacher. Being a
teacher is a favorite of mine, because I delight in teaching
others about culture. Not drilling in grammar, except up
to the point necessary, but sharing drama and poetry with
students and teaching them French songs. It is an inte­
gral part of the joy of teaching that the students feel the
teacher’s joy in their company. I enjoyed being a teacher
more than any other work I have done.
When asked what it has meant for her and her
career to be able to speak several languages the
answer is clear. It has meant the world to me. Being
fluent in a language other than English is vital in
Vigdís’s eyes, and even if one isn’t fluent, making
an effort to speak the language of the country you
are visiting is important and respectful, rather than
always taking the easy way out and resorting to the
third language, English.
She warns against the overemphasis on pragma-
tism. I went to France out of sheer desire to experience the
culture and I believed that if I could find out through the
language what the culture was made of, I would always have
something to do. I could teach French or cultural history, for
instance. As it turned out I have never been out of work.
drauminn um tungumálamiðstöðina sem vonandi verður
að veruleika sem fyrst. Sjá nánar á www.vigdis.hi.is
Vigdís verður verndari alþjóðlegrar námstefnu
„Hvað er í gullakistunni?“ sem STÍL heldur fyrir
hönd NBR í Verslunarskóla Íslands og Viðey dagana
18.–19. júní 2010. Þar munu tungumálakennarar af
öllum stigum deila sínum bestu augnablikum úr starfi
tungumálakennarans, sjálfum sér og öðrum tungu-
málakennurum til uppbyggingar. Hún mun einnig
heimsækja námsstefnuna og taka þátt í samræðum
með fyrrum kollegum sínum. Skráning og nánari upp-
lýsingar á: www.stil.is
Málfríður þakkar Vigdísi fyrir spjallið og óskar
henni til hamingju með afmælið.
 MÁLFRÍÐUR
In Honor of President Vigdís Finnbogadóttir