How Nursery Rhymes Open the Door to Cultural Exchange

Think of any nursery rhyme from your childhood and consider the meaning of it, what does it represent? This isn’t a psychological test to discover your inner child issues, it was a topic that came up in a free conversation session during a class. I was asked if I knew of the nursery rhyme, London Bridge is Falling Down, and being a Brit it was very much part of my childhood.

I was told there is a Japanese version of this popular children’s song with dance moves, just like in the English version. Surprisingly, I only remembered parts of the song and didn’t know the poem's history.

With a little research, I discovered that the suggested history of this nursery rhyme began nearly 2000 years ago. There’s an interesting article on the London Museum website

https://www.londonmuseum.org.uk/visit/families/rhymes-in-time/london-bridge-is-falling-down/

London Bridge has been falling down for a long time, however, there have been many alterations and rebuilds over the centuries, so London Bridge should be London Bridges.

 As the conversation continued, the old Japanese nursery rhyme, かごめ　かごめ (Kagome Kagome) was told, translated, and explained to me. This folk song's innocent, ambiguous meaning changes when the poem's history is revealed. You can do your own research on that one! 

Through sharing our cultures' children’s songs, we learned a little more about the similarities and differences between our countries' histories. The conversation flowed into more adult-themed topics following the darker meanings of nursery rhymes and the problems of yesteryear; Ring-A-Ring-A-Roses is not a lovely poem. Together, we learned some history from our cultures’ nursery rhymes.

Further reading:

.What Adults Can Learn From How Children Acquire Language

.Sharing Cultures Through Conversation

.Why Asking "Why?" Will Improve Your English Communication Skills