Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Path: utzoo!mnetor!seismo!uwvax!uwmacc!anderson
From: anderson@uwmacc.UUCP (Jess Anderson)
Newsgroups: sci.lang
Subject: Re: Americans and Foreign Languages
Message-ID: <501@uwmacc.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 13-Nov-86 12:07:23 EST
Article-I.D.: uwmacc.501
Posted: Thu Nov 13 12:07:23 1986
Date-Received: Thu, 13-Nov-86 21:46:35 EST
References: <480@pedsgo.UUCP>
Distribution: net
Organization: UWisconsin Madison Academic Comp Center
Lines: 48
Summary: We're not *all* illiterate!

In article <480@pedsgo.UUCP>, evan@pedsgo.UUCP (Evan Marcus) writes:
> I have seen some complaining about how Americans are lousy when it comes to
> learning foreign languages, and in fact take this shortcoming very lightly.
[...]
> The problem, in my opinion, is the way it is taught.  We are not taught
> conversational French/Hebrew, but instead we are taught for hours how to
> conjugate verbs, and subjected to short, stilted conversations on tape.
[...]
> Language learning is made to be a chore, rather than the fun experience it
> could be.  In addition, in America it is viewed as less important to learn
> a foreign language, since everybody for hundreds and hundreds of miles in
> almost every direction speaks English too (or at least is expected to!).
> In Europe, the countries are much smaller, and it is much easier to leave
> yours.  
[...]
Two points: First (in response to earlier postings, not this one), there
are quite a few Americans who speak languages other than English as their
birthright -- Spanish and Chinese come to mind at once, and there are many
others with smaller communities (it's a current joke that you have to speak
Ukrainian to get where you're going in New York by taxi). Second, I think
there are quite a few Americans who *do* speak other languages by virtue of
schooling, even though (as our poster says) much of the schooling could be
better. I taught Russian for three years here as a TA, and I think it's
fair to say that the difficulties our students faced had to do with the
fact that from the point of view of English, Russian is a hard language
to learn. 

In addition, the close geographical proximity to other languages such as
one finds in Europe *is* a big factor. A further factor is language
snobbism. I rather doubt that the ratio of Anglophones *in France* is
significantly higher than that of Francophones in America (Canada is
quite another matter), since my own perception is the French are fairly
certain theirs is the only language one truly needs. In my own travels
in France, I noticed immediate acceptance because I could speak the
language well, but invariably I was asked if were Canadian *because*
of that. Quite a few French people I've met speak German, but those
who remember the war find doing so distasteful. 

Having said all this, and not having seen the original posting, my
surmise is that it lamented the all-too-common fact that we Americans
(US, not Canada) know fewer languages than we might. Indeed, too true.
Political, economic, social, and cultural imperialism is doubtless
the *main* culprit...
-- 
==ARPA:====================anderson@unix.macc.wisc.edu===Jess Anderson======
| UUCP: {harvard,seismo,topaz,                           1210 W. Dayton    | 
|    akgua,allegra,ihnp4,usbvax}!uwvax!uwmacc!anderson   Madison, WI 53706 |
==BITNET:============================anderson@wiscmacc===608/263-6988=======