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- Papi, why is it that not many people in our school speak another language? (this was Daughter) - What do you mean?
- Well, like we speak Spanish but the other children go to Spain for holidays and all they can say is 'Hola'.
- I am sure that they learn other words but they forget them as soon as they step off the plane after they arrive in the UK.
- Other children in my class always ask me what we are talking about when you drop me off at school and we are having a conversation. (this was Son)
- And what do you say?
- I just translate what we've been discussing because it is not like it is a secret or anything, is it?
This is a constant topic of conversation around the table with Wife contributing as much as I do. Many times whilst in Spain I have entered a bar only to find a handful of British expats leaning on the counter and bellowing out:
“Dos cervezas por favor.” (Two beers, please)
- Well, like we speak Spanish but the other children go to Spain for holidays and all they can say is 'Hola'.
- I am sure that they learn other words but they forget them as soon as they step off the plane after they arrive in the UK.
- Other children in my class always ask me what we are talking about when you drop me off at school and we are having a conversation. (this was Son)
- And what do you say?
- I just translate what we've been discussing because it is not like it is a secret or anything, is it?
This is a constant topic of conversation around the table with Wife contributing as much as I do. Many times whilst in Spain I have entered a bar only to find a handful of British expats leaning on the counter and bellowing out:
“Dos cervezas por favor.” (Two beers, please)
You could be forgiven for thinking that those are the only words a British tourist will manage to utter whilst on holiday in Spain or any other Spanish-speaking country. And you could be right.
The UK lies at the bottom of the league of European nations whose citizens can master two or even three other languages. A typical Scandinavian will speak English and French besides Swedish or Norwegian for instance. Go to Germany and most people will speak English as a second language, sometimes as fluent as their own mother tongue. Move over to Spain , and you will find many locals conversing in French effortlessly.
So, are British bad at languages? Al contrario. In defence of my adopted land, I have to mention some factors that have conspired against their taking up the learning of foreign languages more seriously.
The first one is that English is the recognised international lingua franca and this has created a sense of linguistic complacency amongst Anglophones. Travel to Nepal or Brazil and the chances are that you will come across someone who can muster a few words in Shakespeare’s language.
The second reason was the ill-fated decision in 2002 to make the learning of foreign languages optional after age 14.
The third and final explanation could have something to do with Britain ’s national sport: self-deprecation and self-effacement. Speaking a foreign language demands a type of mettle and exposure that could very easily be undermined by self-disparagement.
Still, there is room for hope. Following a study by the National Foundation for Educational Research, which showed that 84% of primary schools now teach children another language, the government is planning to encourage the take-up of languages overall. And as the proud father of two bilingual children I cannot vouch enough for the benefit the learning of a foreign lingo brings to a little one.
And who knows, maybe you will be able to take that conversation further than just two beers.
Copyright 2008
The UK lies at the bottom of the league of European nations whose citizens can master two or even three other languages. A typical Scandinavian will speak English and French besides Swedish or Norwegian for instance. Go to Germany and most people will speak English as a second language, sometimes as fluent as their own mother tongue. Move over to Spain , and you will find many locals conversing in French effortlessly.
So, are British bad at languages? Al contrario. In defence of my adopted land, I have to mention some factors that have conspired against their taking up the learning of foreign languages more seriously.
The first one is that English is the recognised international lingua franca and this has created a sense of linguistic complacency amongst Anglophones. Travel to Nepal or Brazil and the chances are that you will come across someone who can muster a few words in Shakespeare’s language.
The second reason was the ill-fated decision in 2002 to make the learning of foreign languages optional after age 14.
The third and final explanation could have something to do with Britain ’s national sport: self-deprecation and self-effacement. Speaking a foreign language demands a type of mettle and exposure that could very easily be undermined by self-disparagement.
Still, there is room for hope. Following a study by the National Foundation for Educational Research, which showed that 84% of primary schools now teach children another language, the government is planning to encourage the take-up of languages overall. And as the proud father of two bilingual children I cannot vouch enough for the benefit the learning of a foreign lingo brings to a little one.
And who knows, maybe you will be able to take that conversation further than just two beers.
Copyright 2008
Illustration courtesy of Garrincha
Hello Cuban in London. Es interesante lo que acabas de escribir. Ojalá no sea un problema las Lenguas en el futuro. Permíteme adjuntarte un link sobre este tema que espero te resulte interesante igualmente. Saludos¡¡
ReplyDeletehttp://papelbit.blogspot.com/2008/06/enroque-largo-o-la-mediocre-espiral.html
Hola acrey, muchas gracias por pasar. Ya te dejé un comentario en tu blog a proposito de un tema que me ha cabreado un poco (como dicen los boricuas). Las lenguas autonomas. Ya lo toqué en mi blog en semanas anteriores pero la proxima semana le meto mano de nuevo desde el punto de los franceses que quieren hacer lo mismo que los hispanos. Te visitaré de nuevo pronto.
ReplyDeleteSaludos desde Londres.
Acabo de leer tu post en The Guardian, si no sabes de lo que hablas mejor te quedas callado.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/jul/01/spain.euro2008?commentpage=1
Pero que modales, compan-erito! Vaya, vaya, que no se diga!
ReplyDeletePues, si sé de lo que estoy hablando porque soy graduado de lenguas extranjeras (especialidad inglés, aunque también hable el francés y aleman).
Voy a dejar tu comentario en el blog como muestra de la incomprension, intolerancia y ceguera mental de la que padecen algunos visitantes a estos lares. Espero que disfrutes el resto de mi morada.
Saludos desde Londres
I am so glad to have found you in the blog world!!! I am a Cuban living in Key Largo, my child is Chinese and she speaks English and Spanish. Como te va patriota en Londres?
ReplyDeletePues me va bien, compatriota. Y bienvenido a mi blog. Ya me llegaré por el tuyo en un ratico.
ReplyDeleteGracias por el comentario.
Saludos desde Londres.
Creo que hay algo más.
ReplyDelete1- El ruso no tiene la difusión del inglés y sin embargo en los 70s y 80s, me llamó la atención que era extraordinariamente dificil en Rusia encontrar nativos que entiendieran otras lenguas. Los que venían de otras repúblicas hablaban siempre dos o tres lenguas.
2- Los quebecois viven sumergidos en un medio anglofono y solo el 38% de los nativos de lengua materna Francesa son bilingues. Sin embargo los anglofonos y allofonos (otras lenguas) son casi todos al menos bilingues.
Hay algo más. Algunos pueblos no quieren, o no pueden aprender otras lenguas. Cuanta pena me da con ellos! No saben lo que se pierden y las condiciones desventajosas que imponen a sus hijos.
Cuban, durante el tiempo que vivI y estudiE en Netherlands, pude constatar como en ese gran paIs el multilinguismo es una prActica corriente. Guardo un grato recuerdo de los holandeses gracias a muchas cosas, pero sobre todo a su cruriosidad de intercambiar y de asumir la riqueza que aporta conocer varias lenguas.
ReplyDeletePara nadie es un secreto que el dominar otro idioma te permite interactuar mejor en cualquier parte, pero lo bueno ademAs es que te abre los caminos para entender y asumir otras culturas, algo imprescindible si es que en lugar de asumir el camino 'fuera de vista' del orangutan, elegimos el de ser verdaderos ciudadanos de un mundo que nos pertence.
pilladera, tony.
Same story here across the Atlantic. People does not teach languages anymore, except chinese. There is a big kahoona about China becoming a great superpower and the need to know the language for business. Monet talks. My friend.
ReplyDeleteWesbri
Thanks, Al, asere and wesbri (welcome, man!). The UK is a curious place to live in in terms of bilingualism. You come across peopel who speak Urdu, Gujarat and English adn yet they pass off as monolingual. Which means that there's still a certain snobbery about non-modern languages.
ReplyDeleteWesbri, you're right, man, money talks and that's why Mandarin and Cantonese are becoming so popular. A big caveat, though, they are tonal languages. Use the wrong the tone and you could be insulting someone.
Saludos desde Londres.
Cuando llegamos a Estados Unidos la gente de aca nos critico mucho por nuestra decision de educar a nuestros hijos con dos idiomas en casa. Nos decian que si estabamos aca que le hablaramos ingles, porque nuestros hijos eran Americanos. Ahora la misma gente los escucha cambiar entre tres idiomas y se quedan soprendidos. Creo que aca se tiene el mismo problema que en Inglaterra. Los americanos estudian ocho anios de espaniol y lo unico que saben decir es "una cerveza porfavor"... Es una lastima perder esa capacidad linguistica que tienen los ninios...
ReplyDeletesaludos,
Lena, lo que me cuentas me sorprende porque siempre pensé (erroneamente, me doy cuenta) que los yanquis eran mas adelantados con el espan-ol por tener mas latinos en su territorio. Pero, bueno, no vivo alla y de hecho tiene sentido, la cultura dominante aprisionando ala supuesta "subordinada".
ReplyDeleteGracias por pasar.
Saludos desde Londres.
Ah, estimado Cubaninlondon, como disfruto estos post tuyos de Living in a Bilingual Word y la interaccion de padres de diferentes nacionalidades e idiomas con sus hijos.
ReplyDeleteEl estadounidense -por lo general- habla solo ingles. Tampoco los veo muy interesados en el departamento de los idiomas. Claro, por las caracteristicas de NY, el arcoiris de lenguas es muy grande y no representa para nada al resto del pais.
También he odio eso, eu. El resto de los Estados Juntos le tiene tirria a Nueva York a tal punto que cuando paso lo de 9/11 no sabian como reaccionar ante la catastrofe neoyorquina.
ReplyDeleteMuchas gracias por pasar.
Saludos desde Londres.
Aunque tienes mucha razón en lo que dices (vivo en Mallorca, y de ingleses aquí sé un rato, sobre todo la prepotencia de preguntar por una calle en inglés, como si estuvieran en un país de habla inglesa...), debo admitir mi sorpresa cuando leí esto:
ReplyDelete"Move over to Spain , and you will find many locals conversing in French effortlessly."
Sinceramente, creo que no has estado acertado en cuanto a este comentario.
Pero el resto, me ha gustado mucho.
I think the first reason is overwhelming...no se ven obligados a aprender una segunda lengua porque su primera lengua es la más universal, es la segunda de los demás;-)
ReplyDeleteEstoy pasando por el reto de aprender algo de chino para el trabajo, en el Instituto Confucio, aquí si hay para comer y para llevar, llevo tres meses y apenas empiezo a reconocer alguna fonética, los cuatro tipos de acentos y a leer frases elementales, qué cultura diferente! no sé si a fin de año note ya progreso;-) Fancy cartoon del Garrix, saludos x 2
Chino?! Oye, ahi si hay tela por donde cortar. Primero que todo es una lengua tonal, lo cual quiere decir que mientras piensas que le estas preguntando a alguien como esta, quizas le estes mentando la madre. Pero te deseo suerte, porque me han dicho que es una lengua preciosa y musical.
ReplyDeleteSaludos desde Londres.