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Stereotypes of language learners? | ||
Tags: Stereotypes | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Cultural Experiences in Foreign Languages |  | |
| cathrynm Senior Member United States junglevision.co Joined 6125 days ago 910 posts - 1232 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: Japanese, Finnish | Message 17 of 42 25 August 2010 at 6:33pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Here's some of the stereotypes I've met while learning Japanese. Biased towards studying Japanese in the SF Bay area at the high beginner/low intermediate level.
1. Chinese guys who study Japanese. They breeze through the Kanji, and have pretty good listening comprehension -- though often have difficulty with pronunciation. For them Japanese is an easy A when they take classes. 2. Korean guys who study Japanese. They dislike studying Kanji, but have an intuitive grasp of the grammar and vocabulary. They learn very quickly. Both Chinese and Korean speakers seem to be able to pick up Japanese by exposure to dramas and anime, and quite a few of them are fans of anime. I think men tend to watch anime, and the women prefer drama, generally. I've met a few who are interested in being a tourist in Japan and learn for this reason. 3. The teenage to 20-something white women. Many go to Japan -- exchange students, Jet program, or home stays. Unpredictable level of achievement, but many become very fluent, and others just hit a wall in Japan and don't learn much. 4. The Japanese heritage learners. Some have some native grasp of the language, but never went to school in Japan so have difficulty with newspapers and TV news. Others, like me, basically start from zero and are muddling along with the other confused and lost English speakers. My stereotype is that the 'starting from zero' study diligently but progress slowly -- and the ones with a better exposure and listening comprehension as children generally don't study as hard, so they don't get through all the characters and grammar. 5. The white guys -- age maybe 15-40 totally driven by the idea of learning Japanese, moving to Japan and having a Japanese girlfriend. Really, I swear there must be ways of meeting women that do not require memorizing thousands of characters, but these guys are focused like a laser beam on this one goal. Some of them do quite well, actually. My impression is that the sex-driven learners generally do better than the culture driven learners. 3 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Olekander Triglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5883 days ago 122 posts - 136 votes Speaks: English*, French, Russian | Message 18 of 42 01 September 2010 at 2:37pm | IP Logged | |||||
Guys stop worrying about other people and just write what you think. Someone somewhere is offended by anything. So unless you're writing something praising Binladen, or worshiping Chairman mao. Who cares! As for my idea of the sterotypical learners.. hmmmmm Assuming the learner is English. French - Kinda snotty or cultural Spanish- Probably told it's the easiest language in the world and wanted to impress some friends Arabic- Loves Muslims, can't wait for Sharia law in Britain German- A bit alternative, because they opted for it at school over french and decided to carry on with it. Or, a person who works in the car industry. Chinese- complete nutjob who goes to SOAS lol, or a buisness man who needs it for work. Japanese- Nerdy manga type Lithuainian- 2nd + generation immigrant who wants to learn language of his culture/forefathers Russian- you wanna be James bond. Hebrew- You think you're more likely to find a penny on the street. Edited by Olekander on 01 September 2010 at 2:38pm 3 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| lanni Senior Member China Joined 6263 days ago 102 posts - 156 votes Speaks: Mandarin* Studies: English | Message 19 of 42 01 September 2010 at 4:54pm | IP Logged | |||||
It is not a very funny joke. 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Olekander Triglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5883 days ago 122 posts - 136 votes Speaks: English*, French, Russian | Message 20 of 42 01 September 2010 at 9:50pm | IP Logged | |||||
Here is your prime example people lol. It definitely helps if you understand what I wrote first bro. I assume you didn't understand because I can't think for a moment you're a fan of fascists. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| feanarosurion Senior Member Canada Joined 5281 days ago 217 posts - 316 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Finnish, Norwegian | Message 21 of 42 01 September 2010 at 10:01pm | IP Logged | |||||
Same goes for Finnish. Me and my other Finnish-learning buddy in Calgary both got into the language because we liked the metal. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Chung Diglot Senior Member Joined 7156 days ago 4228 posts - 8259 votes 20 sounds Speaks: English*, French Studies: Polish, Slovak, Uzbek, Turkish, Korean, Finnish | Message 22 of 42 01 September 2010 at 11:06pm | IP Logged | |||||
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I've observed the following stereotypes for learners and their choices for foreign languages (these are partially for fun, but they can also reflect in varying degrees the motivations to learn such languages). It doesn't consider instances where people are forced to learn the language as that would then render moot the stereotypes or prejudice about learners' motives.
- Any language spoken in Africa apart from Afrikaans, Arabic or Berber or some colonial language: trying to be politically-correct and make a statement by showing interest in Africa rather than the more common choices from Eurasiatic languages - Arabic: potential terrorist, Palestinian sympathizer or convert to radical Islam - Danish/Norwegian/Swedish: fan of the Vikings (i.e. the Norsemen, not the NFL team!), didn't like German but still wanted to study an "easy" Germanic language (at least for English-speakers) - English: learner lives with the questionable assumption that English is to be always associated with freedom, progress or financial prowess - French: cultural snob or lover of food - Finnish: masochistic language geek ("Ooh, Finnish is soooo hard!" say the neighbouring Swedes) or metalhead - German: buff of European history in World War II, fan of classical music or Nazi sympathizer - Ancient Greek or Latin: nerd or enthusiast of ancient history - Italian: lover of opera or food, didn't want to jump on the "French bandwagon" or the "Spanish bandwagon" but still wanted to learn a modern Romance language - Japanese: fan of manga or animé or practitioner of certain martial arts. May even suffer from general "Asian fever". - Korean: practitioner of tae kwon do. May suffer from general "Asian fever". - Mandarin: practitioner of wu-shu, fan of Chinese martial arts movies or follower of Chinese spirituality. Person could also have been seduced by dreams of making a ton of money on the supposed promise of a market with over a billion potential customers. May suffer from general "Asian fever" - Any Chinese language other than Mandarin: the learner must be in a relationship with someone who natively speaks a Chinese language other than Mandarin, if the choice is Cantonese, the learner can be stereotyped as a fan of CantoPop or movies from Hong Kong. - Portuguese: Has "Brazilian fever", likes capoeira or samba, didn't want to jump on the "Spanish" bandwagon but still wanted a language that's not too far removed from the supposedly "easy" Spanish. - Russian: Communist sympathizer or someone who wants to express displeasure with dominance of English or associated culture, may also be supportive of Pan-Slavism or idea that Russia must be strong so as to stand up to perpetually evil American foreign policy - Any Eastern European language other than Russian: the learner is in a relationship with someone from that part of the world or trying to hit on someone from that part of the world (by "Eastern European languages" I refer to languages that are spoken natively in lands within the former Warsaw Pact or non-aligned communist European states. This also means that Czech, Hungarian, Slovenian and the like are "Eastern European" rather than "Central European" as some in the ex-communist states imagine it) - Spanish: Has "Latin fever", likes salsa, meringue, cha-cha etc., wants an "easy" foreign language, thinks that knowing Spanish is the key to making tons of money in business opportunities in Latin America (never mind that much of Latin America is rather poor and the market for many products and services is smaller than meets the eye) Edited by Chung on 01 September 2010 at 11:15pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Envinyatar Diglot Senior Member Guatemala Joined 5536 days ago 147 posts - 240 votes Speaks: Spanish*, English Studies: Modern Hebrew | Message 23 of 42 01 September 2010 at 11:09pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Some stereotypes about language learners I've heard here in my little country:
English - It varies a lot depending on what group of people you ask. For middle-class people you are someone who wants to progress and being more valuable in your job or college. Low-class people will see an English learner as someone who is getting ready to go to the US as an illegal immigrant. Leftists will see you as some kind of brainwashed pop-culture lover trying to learn the "Language of the Empire". German/French/Italian - Those are considered here the "natural" third language choices to learn so no stigma associated. Chinese - You're crazy, a genius or both. For most leftists this should be the second language people should acquire instead of English because China is "The Country of the Future". Japanese - You're a nerd who watches too much Naruto, DBZ or Hentai. Russian - You're a communist. Hebrew - You're a Jew or a protestant pastor. Leftists will think you're a Mossad agent. Edit: Oh I forgot, Arabic - You're a terrorist. Edited by Envinyatar on 01 September 2010 at 11:11pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| CaucusWolf Senior Member United States Joined 5272 days ago 191 posts - 234 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Arabic (Written), Japanese | Message 24 of 42 01 September 2010 at 11:18pm | IP Logged | |||||
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WOW... all of these stereotypes are stupid. You might as well just have said Obama= A muslim, Communist Antichrist who wasn't born in America(because Hawaii obviously isn't a state.)and hates America. This thread is pointless. Edited by CaucusWolf on 01 September 2010 at 11:19pm 2 persons have voted this message useful |
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