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Criticism for Mid-Eastern Languages? | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| AccentClipper Bilingual Triglot Newbie United States Joined 4757 days ago 13 posts - 15 votes Speaks: French*, English*, Portuguese Studies: Persian | Message 1 of 43 23 November 2011 at 7:36pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Hey, I was just going through the "Ever criticized for learning German?" thread and I was wondering how the topic would apply to the Middle Eastern languages.
By Middle Eastern languages I mean: -Arabic -Persian -Turkish -Hebrew -Pashto -Urdu -Kurdish -Any other languages in that general area that I'm not as familiar with I know that Afghanistan and Pakistan are not typically considered "Middle East" unless referring to the "Greater Middle East", but I decided to list Pashto and Urdu anyways. So have you ever faced criticism or questioning? By this I mean: -"Why would you want to learn that language?" -Discrimination because the languages might be associated with Islam or other topics -Simple curiousity as in "What got you interested in that?" (not really criticism) -A moment whenever a native speaker was disappointed by your learning of the language Also, not criticism: -How natives react when they learn you are studying their language I'm particularly curious because I'v decided to take on Persian. 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| prz_ Tetraglot Senior Member Poland last.fm/user/prz_rul Joined 4861 days ago 890 posts - 1190 votes  Speaks: Polish*, English, Bulgarian, Croatian Studies: Slovenian, Macedonian, Persian, Russian, Turkish, Ukrainian, Dutch, Swedish, German, Italian, Armenian, Kurdish | Message 3 of 43 23 November 2011 at 8:54pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Ok, it's time to be extraordinarily frank ;-) Except the typical no. 1 questions, I've hidden a fact of studying Persian philology from my mother. Simply, I know what would be her reaction. Especially nowadays, when we hear about the nuclear bomb, sanctions etc...
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| Melisse Triglot Newbie Sweden Joined 4872 days ago 19 posts - 36 votes Speaks: English*, SwedishC1, French Studies: Dutch, Russian, Modern Hebrew | Message 4 of 43 23 November 2011 at 9:09pm | IP Logged | |||||
I don't study Persian, but my fiance's family speaks it and I've seem them get really excited and impressed when hearing that a European or American is learning it. It seems to be very flattering to them. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Humdereel Octoglot Groupie United States Joined 4980 days ago 90 posts - 349 votes Speaks: English, Spanish*, Arabic (Levantine), Arabic (Egyptian), Arabic (Written), Turkish, Persian, Urdu Studies: Russian | Message 5 of 43 23 November 2011 at 9:18pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Since I don't usually mention my language studies when around people, I've only had a handful of experiences relating to this.
As far as Arabic goes, I remember once I was practicing my written Arabic in a public library, and somebody walked by and noticed. The conversation went as follows: Person: Ooh, cool, is that Hebrew? Me: Oh, no, it's Arabic. Person: Why would you learn that? It's spoken by those people in Arabia and India. This is America. Don't you think Hebrew is more important? Me: It depends. I personally find Arabic more interesting. Person: O__O *walks away* Nice talking to you. Another time, I was once again practicing my written Arabic, and a lady walked by: Lady: Arabic? Are you Muslim? Me: No, I'm Catholic. Lady: Then why would you learn the language of those people? Me: Because it's interesting. Lady: Why not Spanish? Or French? Or Hebrew? Me: I already speak Spanish, and am not as currently interested in French and Hebrew. Lady: Oh, I see. *walks away* Other times, it was with my friends, but they don't usually react the same way as these last two did. They might joke about "terrorists" using the language (not funny, but, oh well...), but they're usually very captivated by the fact that I can understand such a beautiful script or speak such an exotic language. Most people I meet are also more likely interested in seeing their names written rather than in questioning why I would learn such a language. My dad, when I first told him that I was studying Arabic, responded, "Okay, cool, but be careful. People sometimes have a particular view of that language." My mom would ask questions out of curiosity, but she never discouraged it. As for reactions with the natives, most were very thrilled at my interest in Arabic. Even when I first visited Egypt, when I was more comfortable with MSA than Egyptian Arabic, the locals would be glad to know that I was making the effort to learn their language. Egyptians have a tendency to chuckle or laugh at MSA being spoken on the streets, but in general they still had respect. In the Levant, there was even more thrill, since by then I had MSA and decent proficiency in the Egyptian dialect, and they were very glad to know that I was learning their colloquial dialect as well. This has applied to almost every spot in the Arab world. One time, however, things were different. When I conversed with an Egyptian in the Egyptian dialect, they said, "Wow, but why would you want to learn the way we speak? It's inferior to fusHa." This is sometimes the case -- Arabs may feel that there's a "high" and "low" Arabic or that one is more "proper" than the other. In general, this has happened only occasionally. ___________ For Turkish, things were similar to Arabic, except sometimes the Turks were even MORE thrilled at my learning of their language. My visit to Turkey was greatly enriched by that and I have the tremendous urge to fly over there again some time soon. As for how people in the States reacted, it was mild as it would usually be with Arabic. But like with Arabic, I also had some criticism. Once, when I was listening to Turkish music: Man: What the heck is that? Me: A Turkish song. Man: Turkish? Where is that spoken? Me: Turkey and a few other parts of the Middle East. Man: Ah, the Middle East, that ****hole of a region. Nice meeting you. *walks away* Me: -_- ___________ More recent was Persian. I started studying in mid 2008, and my parents were simply, "Oh, you with other languages." =P Not to my surprise, most people were not truly aware what Persian was either. When I was practicing written Persian: Woman: What's Persian? Me: It's spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, and Tajiistan. Woman: Oh. *walks away* I've only had a handful of Persian-speaking friends, but each one of them was amazed at my interest in their language as well, much like with Arabic and Turkish. They were even happier when they realized my interest in reading the works of Hafiz, Saadi, Rumi, Ferdowsi, and the other poets that Iranians hold dearly. For the most part, bad reactions and criticism have been a small percentage compared to positive reactions and simple curiosity. And often times, those that criticized had very limited knowledge of the languages and their cultures anyways. They were people that watched the news, developed an opinion, and didn't care to look at the big picture. 12 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| hrhenry Octoglot Senior Member United States languagehopper.blogs Joined 5132 days ago 1871 posts - 3642 votes Speaks: English*, SpanishC2, ItalianC2, Norwegian, Catalan, Galician, Turkish, Portuguese Studies: Polish, Indonesian, Ojibwe | Message 6 of 43 23 November 2011 at 9:36pm | IP Logged | |||||
Aside from the "****hole of a region" comment, none of those are criticisms and the regional comment was about the region, not the language. I think we tend to get a little too bent out of shape when someone isn't as thrilled as we are about learning a language - whatever language that may be. My view is "So what?" The only person that should give a damn about what I'm learning is me. R. == Edited by hrhenry on 23 November 2011 at 9:38pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Humdereel Octoglot Groupie United States Joined 4980 days ago 90 posts - 349 votes Speaks: English, Spanish*, Arabic (Levantine), Arabic (Egyptian), Arabic (Written), Turkish, Persian, Urdu Studies: Russian | Message 7 of 43 23 November 2011 at 9:40pm | IP Logged | |||||
Yes, similar things have happened to me relating to Persian as well. Certainly a joyful thing. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| WentworthsGal Senior Member United KingdomRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4890 days ago 191 posts - 246 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Swedish, Spanish | Message 8 of 43 23 November 2011 at 9:55pm | IP Logged | |||||
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When I was teaching myself Turkish as a teenager, my school mates would simply ask me "why?" but even now as I learn Swedish as an adult, I'm still asked the same question of "why?" when I tell people...
2 persons have voted this message useful |
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