Communication
Today I used one of my famous (to myself) sayings or quotations in conversation. I said something like, "Well, you know, they say the first six languages are the hardest". I don't remember what they do say - it might have been something more like "The first twelve languages are the hardest" but the point is the same...although less hard to bear if I say six. It depends what degree of dramatic effect I am aiming for. Since most people in England have only ever dreamed of hearing one language, let alone speaking more than one, I think that to say "six" is sufficiently incredible to make my quotation funny and rather disquieting (yes, this effect is quite a good one to make sometimes!).
Then on the other hand you have countries in the middle of things where it is common to speak more than one language. Even on this island there are bilingualists - for example Welsh speakers who speak English too. And in other times and in other places it may have been natural for many people to know many languages, for reasons of necessity. But it's always because of necessity, isn't it. To know a language (or some of one) means to be able to understand conversation in that language, or writing, or what-have-you. It is good for vital and urgent verbal communication, and is also good for the possibility of having access to literature. There are always benefits from greater understanding of communication. With knowledge like this you can find out all sorts of secrets. By knowing a bit of French, I once found out a concert was on a different day to the one the musicians were expecting (including me!) - it's really a simple thing, but it is always the first example I think of. It amazes me to see what a powerful, secret thing knowledge of language is.
Are the first six languages you learn the hardest? The first is hard in a way because you have no other language then. But it is so vital that you HAVE to learn it. That is why the first language we learn is so successfully learnt! Studies of children isolated (through chance or cruel neglect) past the age of seven or so show that they never acquire language fully, or that they cannot advance much further than the rudiments of speech they already have. The ability to learn in the intensively open way of a child's first years is lost quite soon.
Whether you can get that back is another question, but here we are talking about the issue of second languages and beyond. For me the main motivating factor is interest. I care what other people are thinking or feeling. I want to know what it is like to be someone else, because that is where all the important information is. I already know what it is that I know. To find more answers I must look elsewhere. That is why I look outside. Probably this accounts for my interest in languages.
The second language is an important step, because that is the one that exposes the possibility of speaking languages other than your native tongue. Until then, there is no language, there is just speaking. Everyone talks the same.
People say they do not have the time for language learning. But I do not have the time NOT to learn languages. I need so desperately to understand what is happening to me in this world that I can't afford to stop learning. It is urgent!
It's hard for me to see how people learn to speak fluently though. Probably they do this, though, by sticking to one or two languages. That must be the answer. And because I am learning many things, it will be longer before something fluent appears. It's the same with piano playing, with everything. To do something little would take only a little time. (Sorry to keep you waiting, so far!)
Knowing more than one language tells you that it is the meaning that is important, not the words, not the surface. It is not people's clothes, but what they do and how they live that tells you about them. A tree could be green one day and spiky with twigs the next, but the whole tree is more than those two pictures.
So many words, but all of them useless for describing important things.
That is why we have music.
Then on the other hand you have countries in the middle of things where it is common to speak more than one language. Even on this island there are bilingualists - for example Welsh speakers who speak English too. And in other times and in other places it may have been natural for many people to know many languages, for reasons of necessity. But it's always because of necessity, isn't it. To know a language (or some of one) means to be able to understand conversation in that language, or writing, or what-have-you. It is good for vital and urgent verbal communication, and is also good for the possibility of having access to literature. There are always benefits from greater understanding of communication. With knowledge like this you can find out all sorts of secrets. By knowing a bit of French, I once found out a concert was on a different day to the one the musicians were expecting (including me!) - it's really a simple thing, but it is always the first example I think of. It amazes me to see what a powerful, secret thing knowledge of language is.
Are the first six languages you learn the hardest? The first is hard in a way because you have no other language then. But it is so vital that you HAVE to learn it. That is why the first language we learn is so successfully learnt! Studies of children isolated (through chance or cruel neglect) past the age of seven or so show that they never acquire language fully, or that they cannot advance much further than the rudiments of speech they already have. The ability to learn in the intensively open way of a child's first years is lost quite soon.
Whether you can get that back is another question, but here we are talking about the issue of second languages and beyond. For me the main motivating factor is interest. I care what other people are thinking or feeling. I want to know what it is like to be someone else, because that is where all the important information is. I already know what it is that I know. To find more answers I must look elsewhere. That is why I look outside. Probably this accounts for my interest in languages.
The second language is an important step, because that is the one that exposes the possibility of speaking languages other than your native tongue. Until then, there is no language, there is just speaking. Everyone talks the same.
People say they do not have the time for language learning. But I do not have the time NOT to learn languages. I need so desperately to understand what is happening to me in this world that I can't afford to stop learning. It is urgent!
It's hard for me to see how people learn to speak fluently though. Probably they do this, though, by sticking to one or two languages. That must be the answer. And because I am learning many things, it will be longer before something fluent appears. It's the same with piano playing, with everything. To do something little would take only a little time. (Sorry to keep you waiting, so far!)
Knowing more than one language tells you that it is the meaning that is important, not the words, not the surface. It is not people's clothes, but what they do and how they live that tells you about them. A tree could be green one day and spiky with twigs the next, but the whole tree is more than those two pictures.
So many words, but all of them useless for describing important things.
That is why we have music.
posted by Philip Howard at 11:15 PM
2 Comments:
There's Welsh classes in London if you're interested.
Diolch!
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