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Urban legends about languages... | ||
Tags: Stereotypes | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| DesEsseintes Triglot Newbie Ireland Joined 5229 days ago 33 posts - 68 votes  Speaks: English, French*, Spanish Studies: Croatian | Message 57 of 81 21 January 2013 at 2:50pm | IP Logged | ||
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1) There's one thing I've heard a lot over those last two years at work (I live in an
English-speaking country), it's that languages are a bit like a degree you can get, or a course you may follow, in a given amount of time, provided that you immerse yourself in a country where the target language is spoken. "My husband and I had a quick look at job proposals on the internet, and it seems that an additional language besides English would really be helpful. Our son will spend the summer in (insert country here) so he can come back fluent." Funny thing is, I then met one of those lads, who had spent both July and August in Valencia. He had actually spent the whole summer partying with his Irish mates and could just say "chupame la polla" with an unintelligible accent. His mom seemed pleased though, as his son was now fluent in Spanish. 2) Likewise, I'm a big fan of this magical correlation between school and fluency. "Oh you're French? My daughter speaks French too, she studied it for 3 years in high- school!" Edited by DesEsseintes on 21 January 2013 at 3:30pm 4 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| DesEsseintes Triglot Newbie Ireland Joined 5229 days ago 33 posts - 68 votes Speaks: English, French*, Spanish Studies: Croatian | Message 58 of 81 21 January 2013 at 3:17pm | IP Logged | ||
There's no myth in there! I wear a beret every day, it actually goes quite well with my thin moustache! I have to admit that I even sleep with my beret, I don't really know why, guess it helps me digest the dozen of snails I eat every evening for dinner. Talked to my sisters and my mom on the phone this morning, they still smoke 28 cigarettes per day, like most French women. And indeed, we do expect foreigners to express themselves in a perfect French, otherwise we just plainly ignore them. Come on, that's the least they can do! Oh, wait, I see you're from Norway! I'm sorry for you, I mean, as there are blizzards even in August, it must be tough leaving your house to go buy some food. But cheer up, because on the other hand, it must be cool to have a husband, sons, and brothers that can all drive up to 250km/h on icy roads with their Subaru, as all men from Nordic countries are accomplished rally drivers. Anyway, I have to go take a shower, I mean, the last one I took was 5 years ago! ;) (Just kidding) Edited by DesEsseintes on 21 January 2013 at 3:19pm 9 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| beano Diglot Senior Member United KingdomRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4669 days ago 1049 posts - 2152 votes Speaks: English*, German Studies: Russian, Serbian, Hungarian | Message 59 of 81 21 January 2013 at 4:58pm | IP Logged | ||
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I listened to a serious debate about languages on BBC Radio Scotland. The topic of which languages should be taught in UK schools was addressed. One member of the panel made a case for Mandarin as the "language of the future", pointing out that kids no longer see French and German as relevant as "everyone there speaks English"
Ok, so introducing Asian languages will magically motivate pupils to learn a language to a usuable level? I've also heard parents use this argument - "if only the school offered [insert exotic language] the kids would do much better". Really? Regarding what should be done with all the teachers who currently instruct children in French & German, the panelist dismissed the notion with "they could retrain" Edited by beano on 21 January 2013 at 4:59pm 4 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Theodisce Octoglot Senior Member Poland Joined 5933 days ago 127 posts - 167 votes Speaks: Polish*, Latin, Ancient Greek, Russian, Czech, French, English, German Studies: Italian, Spanish, Slovak, Ukrainian, Serbo-Croatian, Greek, Portuguese | Message 60 of 81 21 January 2013 at 5:44pm | IP Logged | ||
I just love it when second language teaching planners keep switching gears completely ignoring the very fact that the engine is not functioning. I mean, taking into account that school based language teaching is (mostly) a worldwide failure, how could somebody come out with the idea that Mandarin will do the thing? Or maybe that's what they're paid for. People tend to assume somebody is going to do the job for them (you know, "I'm taking Spanish classes so they could teach me the language" attitude) given that they are able to meet some arbitrarily set conditions (e.g. class attendance). Edited by Theodisce on 21 January 2013 at 5:47pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Serpent Octoglot Senior Member Russian Federation serpent-849.livejour Joined 6644 days ago 9753 posts - 15779 votes 4 sounds Speaks: Russian*, English, FinnishC1, Latin, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: Danish, Romanian, Polish, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Croatian, Slovenian, Catalan, Czech, Galician, Dutch, Swedish | Message 61 of 81 21 January 2013 at 10:15pm | IP Logged | ||
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DesEsseintes, great posts!!!!!!!
The fluency over a summer thing is not necessarily a myth though. Cristina is a perfect example. But there are certain conditions like staying in a non-touristy area and preferably with a local family, where most people don't speak English or your native language. And the younger you are, the better it works (but also the tougher it will be to spend so much time away from your family). For an adult, this probably wouldn't work at all, or at the very least it would require hard work and only work with very closely related languages. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Марк Senior Member Russian Federation Joined 5103 days ago 2096 posts - 2972 votes Speaks: Russian* | Message 62 of 81 22 January 2013 at 12:56pm | IP Logged | ||
Even if they are not very close. Like Russian and BMSC for example. But everything can be significantly improved if you use grammar books, textbooks and dictionaries. It can give an enourmous effect if you have studied the language before. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Serpent Octoglot Senior Member Russian Federation serpent-849.livejour Joined 6644 days ago 9753 posts - 15779 votes 4 sounds Speaks: Russian*, English, FinnishC1, Latin, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: Danish, Romanian, Polish, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Croatian, Slovenian, Catalan, Czech, Galician, Dutch, Swedish | Message 63 of 81 22 January 2013 at 3:58pm | IP Logged | ||
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I was talking specifically about reaching fluency under the given conditions. Although that's interesting... BCSM might be easier for a Russian because the need to actually speak will be more pressing than if a Russian tries to learn Ukrainian via immersion.
1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| DesEsseintes Triglot Newbie Ireland Joined 5229 days ago 33 posts - 68 votes Speaks: English, French*, Spanish Studies: Croatian | Message 64 of 81 22 January 2013 at 4:08pm | IP Logged | ||
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Guys, I'm talking about lads in their early 20s, who promise their parents they'll visit
Churches and learn the language, while the only thing they have in mind is getting drunk and laid ;) 1 person has voted this message useful |
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