Comments on: American Ideals Hardly Seem Ideal http://feuerdorn88.edublogs.org/2007/09/25/american-ideals-hardly-seem-ideal/ Just another Edublogs.org weblog Tue, 04 Dec 2007 10:26:54 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.2 hourly 1 By: A Finely Crafted Run-on Sentence » Community http://feuerdorn88.edublogs.org/2007/09/25/american-ideals-hardly-seem-ideal/comment-page-1/#comment-21 A Finely Crafted Run-on Sentence » Community Tue, 04 Dec 2007 10:26:54 +0000 http://feuerdorn88.edublogs.org/2007/09/25/american-ideals-hardly-seem-ideal/#comment-21 [...] Comment 1 [...] [...] Comment 1 [...]

]]> By: kayda http://feuerdorn88.edublogs.org/2007/09/25/american-ideals-hardly-seem-ideal/comment-page-1/#comment-16 kayda Tue, 04 Dec 2007 03:52:56 +0000 http://feuerdorn88.edublogs.org/2007/09/25/american-ideals-hardly-seem-ideal/#comment-16 I suppose we forget that our British cousins must face the same language problems in schools as we do (chalk it up to our American-centric point of view). On the one hand, it surprises me that the UK is falling behind in language because they are part of Europe and seem more in touch with that continent than we are. However, on the other hand, the British are very independent and proud - they wouldn't even change over from pounds to the Euro, so it's not too shocking that they don't feel the need to create a bilingual society. As a sidenote, I am going to be traveling in Germany and France during the semester break, and my German is so rusty that I'm a bit nervous about having to communicate. Luckily I'll be visiting my old foreign exchange student who speaks English perfectly and is fluent in French, so I'll always have a translator, but I feel like I'm going to be portraying a picture of a "stupid American" who can't even speak the language. I suppose we forget that our British cousins must face the same language problems in schools as we do (chalk it up to our American-centric point of view). On the one hand, it surprises me that the UK is falling behind in language because they are part of Europe and seem more in touch with that continent than we are. However, on the other hand, the British are very independent and proud – they wouldn’t even change over from pounds to the Euro, so it’s not too shocking that they don’t feel the need to create a bilingual society.

As a sidenote, I am going to be traveling in Germany and France during the semester break, and my German is so rusty that I’m a bit nervous about having to communicate. Luckily I’ll be visiting my old foreign exchange student who speaks English perfectly and is fluent in French, so I’ll always have a translator, but I feel like I’m going to be portraying a picture of a “stupid American” who can’t even speak the language.

]]> By: Jenny http://feuerdorn88.edublogs.org/2007/09/25/american-ideals-hardly-seem-ideal/comment-page-1/#comment-4 Jenny Tue, 25 Sep 2007 07:27:34 +0000 http://feuerdorn88.edublogs.org/2007/09/25/american-ideals-hardly-seem-ideal/#comment-4 I don't know how this can be changed. Most of the adults I know from my parents' generation tell me that they can't remember anything from the French or Latin they studied in high school and college, even if they took four years. Languages that are not in use are quick to be forgotten. A friend raised in a Filipino household spoke the Filipino language as his first language, but as soon as he reached school age, he learned English and forgot his first language, even though his parents continued to use it among themselves. Sometimes, I think that the instruction itself may be to blame, rather than the rules about compulsory language education. My high school Japanese teacher told us that students in Japan had a high English language requirement (I think 6 years?), but that most Japanese people could not speak English, because the focus was on memorizing lists of words, rather than actually learning the language. I think what this all comes down to is interest. People have to WANT to learn and speak and practice a language, or else they have to NEED to speak it. This brings us back to the issue of ESL students- does the "need" to learn English outweigh their want of speaking their own language? Can language education be about being a multilingual speaker, rather than picking the path of least linguistic resistance? I think it can, but I don't know how to go about it. I don’t know how this can be changed. Most of the adults I know from my parents’ generation tell me that they can’t remember anything from the French or Latin they studied in high school and college, even if they took four years. Languages that are not in use are quick to be forgotten. A friend raised in a Filipino household spoke the Filipino language as his first language, but as soon as he reached school age, he learned English and forgot his first language, even though his parents continued to use it among themselves.

Sometimes, I think that the instruction itself may be to blame, rather than the rules about compulsory language education. My high school Japanese teacher told us that students in Japan had a high English language requirement (I think 6 years?), but that most Japanese people could not speak English, because the focus was on memorizing lists of words, rather than actually learning the language.

I think what this all comes down to is interest. People have to WANT to learn and speak and practice a language, or else they have to NEED to speak it. This brings us back to the issue of ESL students- does the “need” to learn English outweigh their want of speaking their own language? Can language education be about being a multilingual speaker, rather than picking the path of least linguistic resistance? I think it can, but I don’t know how to go about it.

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