Bryce's Reflections on English Mania
As someone who is interested in teaching English in China this video made quite an impression on me after hearing the audio files of Chinese students crying out their English dreams. That desire, and outright need to learn a language I was simply born speaking is a pretty humbling idea. English Mania became increasingly apparent the more I got involved within the international communities. It had occurred to me that nobody was ever ‘truly’ impressed (including myself and other native speaker of english) that an international student had the ability to communicate fluently in English with us. Since it has been taken for granted that anyone who would travel to the US, must already know our language. While on the other hand, as an American, speaking somebody else’s native tongue will immediately cause reactions of excitement and happiness for the patronage towards their language. But why? English, like any other language, is simply a communication tool, and like any other language it takes years of dedication to master. English Mania, however, sheds light on this question. It’s not about the idea of learning English out of simple interest in another’s culture, but rather the device of power English has become on the global market within all aspects of life. Therefore, I do agree with Jay Walker about the remarkable importance given to English as a necessity (much like the languages of Math and Music), and the reasons he gave to celebrate its pull on the world. I feel, this will hopefully one day create a new wave of unification. Although, I do disagree slightly with Jay Walker, or maybe I feel he simply missed an important note. I believe, while the world is adopting English, we as native speakers should also go out and adopt their languages. For the simple reason, where English might fail in certain fields of inquiry another language may excel greatly in its illustration - and through that we can all learn further. In final, as a future teacher, I should recognize this and ensure I give my upmost attention (whether my students are aware of it or not) towards a learning experience that encompasses both sides, and helps build a stepping stone for them to the next stage.
As I was reading your post, I couldn't help think about how often I hear the sentiment that people living hear should learn English contrasted with how few expatriates I knew who could really speak Chinese beyond the ordering of food, buying things, and telling a taxi where to go. I was also reminded of a joke: "What do you call a monolingual person? An [insert name of English speaking country].I agree with you that people in the U.S. should value learning other languages more than they do.
ReplyDeleteI hope what I typed above makes sense. For some reason, there's an error in the coding of this page, and I can't read what I've written clearly; it's writing on top of your post, so the letters are all mixing together.