Jun 29, 2001 12:54 AM
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Language is everything - by this I mean that you are nowhere at all without it. If you want to be understood in your own country and even in your own area of that country then you must understand the language, the dialect, the local idiom.
In English Schools we do not start learning another language, other than English until about the age of eleven. Far too late: By now the majority of children have learned their own local idioms and their learning curve is inextricably set to their own local dialect. They find that learning any language, even another English dialect is too difficult.
We all know that attempting to learn anything at all which is difficult leads us to one conclusion. I can't learn that! (I don't personally believe that there should be such a word as can't or even cannot anyone who tries to do anything at all can accomplish it. But leave that discussion to another opinion).
In the first place, I believe that all children should start learning at least one other language as soon as they begin to speak. This would be, at first, very difficult if the parents had no second language. In a multicultural society however which England - Sorry I mean Great Britain or the United Kingdom, whichever description of these Islands suits you - has now become, nearly everybody has two languages. I don't necessarily mean the latest group of immigrants to these shores although the various Colonials that have come, ''home'', are a natural consideration. Indians, Pakistanis, Africans (from any of the many nations of that continent), Hong Kong Chinese, for instance are lucky in that they already have a second language.
Most of the people on the Continent of Europe already speak more than their own native language. Most of them learn English at an early age as a second language and probably speak French and German as well. It is not unusual, for instance, for Swiss people to be able to speak about four languages fluently. In their small country they are very probably living in one Canton where the dominant language is Italian, working in another speaking French and were born in another where the predominant language is German. In any case they probably learned English at school and speak it better than native English people.
Once you start learning a language it is very easy to pick up another. I was very lucky in that my father was a soldier serving in India. As a child I was able to learn Hindi or at least a pidgin version of it, enough to be understood and to be polite. I went to school with Indians and Anglo Indians who spoke good English and learned more of the Indian, Hindi or Urdu and later Tamil, language from them. We started learning Latin and French very early on at school as the curriculum contained these languages I soon found that my tongue could get around vowel and consonant sounds much more easily. My language teacher, Miss Mather, to whom I shall be eternally grateful, soon learnt that I had a penchant for language and started me off in German in the evenings. (I went to a boarding school).
Not everyone is as lucky as I am and I have made my own luck since, as I never cease to be interested in languages. A stay of five years in Singapore where people of all nations spoke Malay helped me in that respect, I also obtained a smattering of Cantonese. In my working life I have travelled across Europe and worked alongside people to whom it was necessary to speak in their language and, since I have travelled many times to Spain over the past 40 years I have developed a fairly fluent Spanish. I apologise for speaking about my own accomplishments, I only do so to show that it is easy, in my opinion, to learn another language.
I had a friend, English mother, Swiss father, served in the British Army, travelled widely after a very good schooling in a red brick University. Altogether he spoke about 8 languages, fluently and had a smattering in others. In conversations with others of mixed nationality he could switch from one language to another with consummate ease. I envied him, I know that envy is a sin but I wanted to emulate him as it was enjoyable just to listen to him. I never will, I only have a collection of many phrases, will never starve, nor get lost.
Think how you feel when someone is polite to you; understand how important it is to show politeness to another. You can only do this if you have knowledge of their language. You do not need to have a degree; you do not need to be perfect in grammar or pronunciation. If you try to master even a few phrases of another language you will be surprised how much it enhances your own enjoyment of a visit to a foreign country. How proud you would be if a French/Spanish/Italian/German person approached you in your own hometown and asked directions in his own language and you were able to help him/her in their language.
It is never too late to learn. It is difficult to start, about as difficult as trying to give up smoking or such like but like the latter difficulty it becomes much easier as you go on and you will wonder, soon, what all the fuss was about as you go on to your second or third new language.
I believe, very strongly that we should all learn another language if only to understand what causes the rift between nations who, basically, just want to be understood.
