|
 |
Impact of language studies on worldview? | ||
Tags: Language Politics | Cultural Identity | ||
Share with:
| ||
 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| cordelia0507 Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5840 days ago 1473 posts - 2176 votes  Speaks: Swedish* Studies: German, Russian | Message 1 of 30 03 May 2009 at 11:59am | IP Logged | |||||
|
In the English speaking world there is certainly a lot of negative reporting concerning countries as varied as France and China (and everything in between). How do you feel about this in light of your language studies?
Or perhaps you are not an English speaker and you changed your view on the US or Britain after becoming fluent in English? An example: After I started to study Russian, I naturally started taking an interest in media reports concerning Russia. After a while I was in no doubt at all that British media "has it in for Russia" big time.. I found this unfair and started looking for the other side of the story. Has anybody else found that their language studies have made them see the world from a different perspective, or challenge prevailing views on the speakers of the language that you are learning? What was your experience? 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Julie Heptaglot Senior Member PolandRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6905 days ago 1251 posts - 1733 votes 5 sounds Speaks: Polish*, EnglishB2, GermanC2, SpanishB2, Dutch, Swedish, French | Message 2 of 30 03 May 2009 at 12:12pm | IP Logged | |||||
|
I read quite a lot in Polish about Germany and in German about Poland, and try always to see two sides of the same coin. I'm not sure if it has that much to do with my language studies -rather with the overall interest in the topic and the fact I have many German friends... whom I probably wouldn' have if I didn't learn German. Sometimes it's difficult to define what's the cause and what's the result.
I didn't find spontaneously any examples from outside Europe or concerning English - that probably because I wasn't a conscious citizen ;) when I started learning English, and now I don't usually follow news in this language. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Tyr Senior Member Sweden Joined 5784 days ago 316 posts - 384 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Swedish | Message 3 of 30 03 May 2009 at 12:34pm | IP Logged | |||||
|
Studying somewheres language tends to set me againstthe place.
1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Recht Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5803 days ago 241 posts - 270 votes Speaks: English*, GermanB1 | Message 4 of 30 03 May 2009 at 1:23pm | IP Logged | |||||
|
Zero effect. Makes one able to read original sources though, and that can't be a bad
thing. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Russianbear Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 6777 days ago 358 posts - 422 votes 1 sounds Speaks: Russian*, English, Ukrainian Studies: Spanish | Message 5 of 30 03 May 2009 at 5:45pm | IP Logged | |||||
Well, I definitely think the British media, or even the English-language media in general "has it in for Russia" big time. But I guess it is compensated by the fact that the Russian media has it in for the US big time, too. If the UK is not accorded exactly the same treatment in the Russian media, perhaps it is because UK is either viewed as a mere extension of the US in a way, or maybe it is not perceived to be important enough.
As someone who is old enough to remember the USSR, yet young enough to only remember the perestroika years, I guess I was aware of the propaganda effect of the media from an early age. After I moved to the US, and learned English, I was surprised to find out that the propaganda spin wasn't any less in the US - in fact it was perhaps even greater. So my skepticism toward things like journalistic objectivity turned into downright cynicism :) As far as my study of Spanish goes, I've been reading articles on the El Pais website for a while. I think Spain has less of an axe to grind on certain geopolitical issues, and El Pais itself is probably somewhat left-leaning in the context of European politics (which suits me well), so I've found their reporting to be quite reasonable on certain things, compared to pretty much anything that is available in English and/or Russian. And of course, the perspective from Western Europe is different from that of Russia or the English speaking world, and it is interesting to see just what interests and concerns them, what makes the headlines, etc. I can't say it changed my world view much, but it did amplify it in a way, or at least it has given me a slightly different angle. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Olympia Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 5983 days ago 195 posts - 244 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: Old English, French | Message 6 of 30 03 May 2009 at 6:01pm | IP Logged | |||||
|
Learning Spanish has definitely affected my worldview. In the U.S. many people (definitely not all) think negatively
of Mexican immigrants or have stereotyped thinking about them (i e they're lazy, they're illegal, they're taking our jobs, etc.). Just being able to talk to many of them in their own language has made me realize that the vast majority do not fit those stereotypes, and has made me want to help them in any way that I can and to try and change these misinformed ideas that people have. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Juan M. Senior Member Colombia Joined 5901 days ago 460 posts - 597 votes | Message 7 of 30 03 May 2009 at 6:29pm | IP Logged | |||||
|
You shouldn't take seriously much of what you read in newspapers and watch on the news. Having it been mentioned, El País has on its website 'frontpage' today this story about the U.S. denying a French commercial airplane entry into its airspace because it was carrying a Colombian passenger. The article describes the man as an 'intellectual' and 'journalist' and proceeds to ridicule and denigrate the American reaction as authoritarian and arrogant. What the article doesn't tell you is that the man in question is an apologist of genocide, most likely an agent of a brutal terrorist group, and would be lynched if he were to stand on a street corner in Bogotá or Medellín and proclaim his 'views' in a loud voice.
This story was also reported on Colombian newspaper websites and reader comments' universally condemned this sinister man and applauded the American decision. Thus if you had no knowledge of the background and context you'd come away from this piece with an entirely flawed notion of American and French attitudes, the former of ignorant hostility and the latter of enlightened toleration, when the truth is closer to the opposite. This is how most public opinion today is but a grotesque deformation of reality. Now, the more languages you know, the more perspectives you have access to, and the less the chances of being bamboozled. At a fundamental level, I like this quote from a great Austrian philosopher: "Die Grenzen meiner Sprache sind die Grenzen meiner Welt" Edited by JuanM on 03 May 2009 at 6:40pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Russianbear Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 6777 days ago 358 posts - 422 votes 1 sounds Speaks: Russian*, English, Ukrainian Studies: Spanish | Message 8 of 30 03 May 2009 at 7:30pm | IP Logged | |||||
Well, this article is a good example of why I like El País. One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter. Even if you are right and this guy WOULD have been lynched in Colombia, perhaps it tells me more about Colombia than it does about him. I looked up this guy and I think El País has done a good job on the article. I hope I haven't said anything that would get me lynched in Colombia, though :) Edited by Russianbear on 03 May 2009 at 7:37pm 1 person has voted this message useful |
|  | 
Printable version
|
| Copyright 2024 FX Micheloud - All rights reserved No part of this website may be copied by any means without my written authorization. |
