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I am very disheartened | ||
Tags: Loss of confidence | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| Juаn Senior Member Colombia Joined 5167 days ago 727 posts - 1830 votes  Speaks: Spanish* | Message 1 of 47 19 November 2011 at 6:22pm | IP Logged | |||||
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I learn languages in order to study their thought and culture in a profound manner. When I started on this pursuit some years ago the world seemed to open up before me. Vast vistas of philosophy, religion, literature, civilization, whole new worldviews appeared within my grasp. If only I worked really hard, I could encompass mankind.
Now the totalitarian nightmare of digital distribution and its attendant geographical restrictions are crashing down on these dreams. Why learn French or German or Hebrew or Hindi or Japanese if after so many years of effort and dedication I will be rewarded by the leftovers and crumbs that manage to seep under the iron curtain of regional restrictions? As a Colombian, I am already ostracized from the digital offerings of Amazon, a store which I have patronized for more than ten years and to which I have given several thousands of dollars in business. They will not sell me MP3s, movies, software or video games, and hundreds of thousands of ebooks are forbidden to me as well. My money suddenly is no good to them anymore. More poignant, I tried searching at the American kindle store for some key titles offered at the French one. Most were not available. Even for countries and territories fully supported by Amazon's kindle users are barred from reading what they intend in the languages of their choosing. I can still buy music in CD form, movies and TV programs as DVDs, and of course books in paper. But what about ten years from now, at a time when I hope I may sit down and comfortably read in Arabic or Hindi? What will be my fate if ebooks and other digital media manage to displace their physical predecessors? There is already talk of Amazon introducing their kindle to Japan. Will that be the end foreigners having access to Japanese books? There is the alternative of piracy, but that is sorely inadequate for the kind of books I am interested in. The new world of digital distribution threatens to restrict access to culture to a degree unimaginable to any but the most brutal totalitarian regimes of the past. Different regions and cultures will not have wide and meaningful access to each other and dialogue and understanding will be choked. There will be little incentive to learn foreign languages, as you will be tightly held in the iron cage assigned to you by digital distribution. I am very sad and disheartened and wonder whether it makes any sense for me to continue with my studies of foreign languages. Edited by Juаn on 19 November 2011 at 6:31pm 4 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Volte Tetraglot Senior Member Switzerland Joined 6261 days ago 4474 posts - 6726 votes Speaks: English*, Esperanto, German, Italian Studies: French, Finnish, Mandarin, Japanese | Message 2 of 47 19 November 2011 at 7:28pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Yes, continuing your studies of foreign languages makes sense.
There's a growing movement towards open access to scholarly material. And physical publication of scholarly tomes will not be dead in 10 years - nor will older books suddenly vanish off the face of the earth. Much of what you seem to be interested in is old enough to be out of copyright, as well, which softens the sting slightly. You are entirely right about the "iron curtain" of digital restrictions, however. Richard Stallman wrote about it in "The Right to Read", back in the 1990s, and the threat is only growing larger. Edited by Volte on 19 November 2011 at 7:29pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| outcast Bilingual Heptaglot Senior Member China Joined 4771 days ago 869 posts - 1364 votes Speaks: Spanish*, English*, German, Italian, French, Portuguese, Mandarin Studies: Korean | Message 3 of 47 19 November 2011 at 8:00pm | IP Logged | |||||
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I'm thinking of buying an e-reader. Can someone explain what is meant by these restrictions? Why on Earth would a video game be blocked from being sold in a certain region?
Why are book forbidden? Is it the foreign-language versions that are blocked or the title all-together if no one in the country or area you live in purchases the copyrights? 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Juаn Senior Member Colombia Joined 5167 days ago 727 posts - 1830 votes Speaks: Spanish* | Message 4 of 47 19 November 2011 at 8:53pm | IP Logged | |||||
You are right in that a lot of books that interest me are out of copyright, and in this regard technology is helpful. There are a lot of valuable scanned materials in different languages readily available as print on demand, though oftentimes they are hard to find given the cursory treatment they receive from their publishers and outlets, as they do not even bother to list their titles properly. Take a look at this for instance. More often than not however what I would like to read in most of my languages is still in copyright. And for this digital distribution is a nightmare, not just for me in my remote corner of the world, but for everyone, as the entire world is carved out and wire fence set up so that Americans can not access French books or Germans, Japanese ones. As for used books, a vibrant and accessible online used book market exists only for English-language books, a distant second being German and then French and Spanish. For the rest, it is negligible.
If you buy an ereader you will be severely limited in the selection of titles in foreign languages that you can buy, as the bulk of ebooks available in each language are restricted to their own country and region. This means you will not be able to buy the vast majority of ebooks available in French, German or other languages. Even Canadians, Australians and New Zealanders experience great frustration trying to purchase English-language ebooks. I think geographical restrictions are a threat to everyone, but particularly for us language learners, we should never accept a device that restricts access on the basis of region as it defeats everything we work towards. My recommendation is to stick to paper books. They are a far superior technology anyway. They will not strain your eyes, will not run out of batteries, will not become obsolete and refuse to be read whenever a new model appears, and do not discriminate against anyone picking them up and reading them. Plus, they are much more handsome than a piece of plastic. Edited by Juаn on 19 November 2011 at 9:03pm 4 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| July Diglot Senior Member Spain Joined 5095 days ago 113 posts - 208 votes Speaks: English*, SpanishB2 Studies: French | Message 5 of 47 19 November 2011 at 8:55pm | IP Logged | |||||
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I think it's now crazy when even movie trailers are often 'not available to view from
your location'. But it's about money, and the fact that if a download or game is priced at $45 in your location, they don't want you getting hold of it for $5. Hence ridiculous schemes like 'regions' for DVDs, e-books etc. Best way to get round it? Just move to where they're freely available in the language of your choice... :( For most people that's an impossibility. It's daft, and unfair when it's the same product and you're actually willing to pay for it. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| lichtrausch Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 5782 days ago 525 posts - 1072 votes Speaks: English*, German, Japanese Studies: Korean, Mandarin | Message 6 of 47 19 November 2011 at 9:12pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Another cause for hope is the rapid rise of Pirate parties in places like Sweden and Germany. Digital distribution restrictions are indeed an abomination though. I've been frustrated by them countless times. I am constantly seeking out ways to get around them.
As publishers grow weaker and authors come ever closer to their readers, distribution should theoretically become more free and liberal. It is the common goal of authors and readers that texts should reach the widest audience possible. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Ari Heptaglot Senior Member Norway Joined 6404 days ago 2314 posts - 5695 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Mandarin, Cantonese Studies: Czech, Latin, German | Message 7 of 47 19 November 2011 at 10:07pm | IP Logged | |||||
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As an avid reader of electronic documents this development annoys me, as well. I do not consider a physical book a superior technology. For a language learner, things like pop-up dictionaries, automatic flashcard creation and copy-paste to Google Translate can be of great use.
But getting hold of material can truly be a pain in the rear. I've found, however, that some books and book collections are sold directly on the App Store, as their own apps. This sometimes makes it hard to use all those great functions I mentioned (luckily my dictionary has a great OCR function, so by just taking a screenshot I can still get the text out), but it's still a nice development. However, it rarely means you can find that one specific book you're looking for. Some bookstores also have their own apps and I've downloaded a couple of those, though I've yet to purchase a book through them. 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Flarioca Heptaglot Senior Member Brazil Joined 5704 days ago 635 posts - 816 votes Speaks: Portuguese*, Esperanto, French, EnglishC2, Spanish, German, Italian Studies: Catalan, Mandarin | Message 8 of 47 19 November 2011 at 10:49pm | IP Logged | |||||
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It is very clear that all these restriction measures will only foster piracy and hacking.
Sometimes, it almost looks like as if people love to make everybody else to walk through illegal ways, once they've already done that. It seems that big companies would love to have our companionship. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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