My Family and “Them Languages”

Abandoning their ancestral Jewish communities, scattered throughout the Mediterranean, the author’s parents first try to make a home in the newly-formed state of Israel. But, the kibbutz experience nearly costs them their lives.

Arriving in Australia as part of the country’s vast post-WW2 subsidised immigration programme (£10 Maltese on a par with £10 Poms), they are determined that their children should succeed Down Under, not shackled to other people’s perceptions of them based on geography, class and religion.

“Them Languages” refers to Tayar’s brother’s early rejection of the family’s multilingualism, a surefire giveaway of their foreignness. Whereas the author follows her parents in their passion for languages, returning to Europe and becoming a professional interpreter, her brother remains resolutely monolingual on his path to assimilation.

This is a story of displacement which asks the question: how far must we go in throwing over the past in order to feel at home in the present?

Paperback: 310pages
Publisher: UK Book Publishing
Language: English
ISBN-13: 9781917329583