Language and foreign culture

[Charean]

KT - I do hope you were joking about your comment "Now English has become so predominant here that our mother tongues, such as Chinese, are almost in danger of being wiped off the scene.
No doubt this will greatly please my dear Anglo-Saxon friends here on this board... "

I don't think that is true at all. I have always believed that people grow through diversity - and if we all spoke the same language it would kill a few cultures. I speak only a little Yiddish, and haven't met anyone besides New Yorkers or Jews who have the faintest idea what I am talking about, and yet - the English Translation lacks everything.

Donut - "I don't think Americans should embark upon learning another language before they have mastered English."



What can I say? Americans can't speak the Queen's English, it would require enunciation. And frankly, Southern Accents preclude that! LOL

[K T Ong]

To Charean:

Let's put it this way, some people here in Singapore are trying very hard to preserve the use of the mother tongues. The trouble is that we Singaporeans have become simply too pragmatic: if learning something doesn't help you earn $$$, we won't bother about learning it. And learning English earns more $$$ than learning any other language. Well, perhaps as China grows in power, this will change... (We Singaporeans are becoming aware of this, too...)

Fully agree with you: we can certainly do with a little more cultural diversity, as opposed to putting all our eggs in one basket by making everyone speak the same language.

I didn't read anyone elses reply on this thread yet. I just wanted to say, one of the biggest easiest and cheapest way to cut government costs in the USA is to declare English the official language period. Anyone immigrating should be assuming that they will need to conduct business in English (or what passes for english in the US) Second languages for non-immigrant children are fine classes, but we need to focus. We do not need a mix and match language policy here. One language will allow you to succeed in any part of the USA and it is not Spanish.

[Aelia Jusa]

I agree that having one language that everyone can communicate in is most conduicive to a smoothly running country. Or maybe two as in Canada if it's applicable. And also that immigrants should make an effort to learn the language of their new country.

However I think it's a shame that in English speaking countries, schools aren't more proactive in teaching foreign languages. It is probably more difficult in English speaking countries - I mean, what language do you teach? In non-English speaking countries the choice is obvious I suppose, since English is the most widely spoken language (in terms of countries spoken in; I think mandarin is the most widely spoken in terms of numbers of people speaking it). But in Australia for instance, what should we learn - an asian language, a european language? But I think being able to communicate in other languages is an important skill, not the least of which because it teaches kids about the world, about different cultures and peoples - maybe tolerance? I feel sad when I hear Australians saying that anyone who comes to this country should speak English - not even learn it, but speak it before they get here, yet we're not able to speak other languages ourselves, and it's very low on the agenda in schools.

I also think it's sad that less widely spoken languages are dying out. Not many aboriginals can speak their native language(s) anymore. It isn't something that is embraced by non-Aboriginals, and even Aboriginals aren't learning it and not encouraging it in Aboriginal schools because it's not really relevant or useful in Australia today. But with it's passing goes an extent of cultural diversity.

[Timber Loftis]

Originally posted by Donut: I don't think Americans should embark upon learning another language before they have mastered English.

Way too many Americans agree with you. Of course, I would say Britts just might want to see how living and evolving a language can be, and can learn a lesson or two on that level from Americans. This just might help remove the long thick rod from their nether regions.

Originally posted by Aelia Jusa: I agree that having one language that everyone can communicate in is most conduicive to a smoothly running country. Or maybe two as in Canada if it's applicable. And also that immigrants should make an effort to learn the language of their new country. Im not completly sure, but as an outsider looking in, it appears to me that the English speaking Canadians have a rather large problem with the French speaking ones. There is even occasional talk about seperating the French sections, again that just an outsiders perspective on it though. I also agree with Donut, I think in the US we should limit our classes in foreign languages untill we manage to teach our kids the English one. My grammer and spelling would be of better quality if there had been more emphasis placed on it while in school as a child.

Originally posted by Timber Loftis: [QB This just might help remove the long thick rod from their nether regions. [/QB]

My goodness

[Timber Loftis]

You gotta be kidding me, MagiK. Swiss kids grow up TRI-lingual. Are they smarter? It's not like they give up math and science along the way. Foreign language skills should be taught much earlier. And, such skills help with the English language as well. Plus, it gives a real long-term advantage, especially in the job market. Maybe our kids aren't learning English properly, but that doesn't mean we don't teach them other things just because the English is poor.

On a side note, I heard several teachers on the radio this morning call in on a "How has email and chat room language affected your students' homework" question. Very interesting. Teachers are getting this stuff on homework assignments now. ROFLMAO? Gag me, please.

Originally posted by Timber Loftis: You gotta be kidding me, MagiK. Swiss kids grow up TRI-lingual. Are they smarter? It's not like they give up math and science along the way. Foreign language skills should be taught much earlier. And, such skills help with the English language as well. Plus, it gives a real long-term advantage, especially in the job market. Maybe our kids aren't learning English properly, but that doesn't mean we don't teach them other things just because the English is poor. On a side note, I heard several teachers on the radio this morning call in on a "How has email and chat room language affected your students' homework" question. Very interesting. Teachers are getting this stuff on homework assignments now. ROFLMAO? Gag me, please.

TL Im not talking about Switzerland, Im talking about the US school systems. Untill they manage to get one language down correctly, I think they should focus a bit, also get rid of a lot of the extraneous classes, get back to Reading, Composition, Math, Science (real sciences not soft fuzzy ones) English/Grammar, History, Geography and Literature. We can get rid of the self esteem classes, the multi-cultural awareness classes and the political indoctrination classes to make us all more accepting of "alternative life styles" those are things that are best left to the families to teach. None of which will actually help the kid get a job. Oh you might also want ot put some Physical Education in there as well.

This is just my opinion and one of the issues that drives my voting selections (remember to vote tomorrow) I don't demand anyone agree with me, Im just trying to take care of MY kids, not yours [img]smile.gif[/img]

I will point out that we teach some of the classes I said we needed to teach, but they have been bastardized into things other than what the name implies. When I say History class, I mean history , not a cultural indoctrination course, where you can participate in other cultures. Our general education schools (k-12) really need to focus on getting our kids to be well equipped to get into the working world, Colleges allow us to expand our horizons and can be used for all the other crap errr stuff that people have an interest in.

[ 11-04-2002, 11:33 AM: Message edited by: MagiK ]

[Timber Loftis]

I agree with most of what you said, MagiK. And, I do hope our schools aren't quite as wacky these days as your post indicates - though I don't have personal knowledge. I do think kids are more knowledgable at younger ages than I and my peers were at the same age - but, that's to be expected and I would be upset if it weren't the case. Where we disagree is that I do think foreign languages should be taught at younger ages here - which they *never* have been. Kids learn languages better at younger ages. Plus, foreign language class is where you learn something about other cultures - right?