Job Discussion Forums

[struelle]

There is a very strong underlying point to Nomadders post: Native English speakers are a unique bunch, in that it's possible for us to get away with traveling the globe and being monolingual. Of course, other monolingual speakers exist, but they have an 'excuse' for not coming into contact with other cultures and tongues. Especially for North Americans, we come into contact with diversity every single day, but it's extremely unfortunate that we can get away with only English.

For those whose first tongue isn't English and contact other cultures, i.e. in business, the majority can speak another tongue, English being the most common. Hence the reason for us to get away with only one tongue if we choose!!

I didn't realize this concept until making attempts to learn Chinese overseas, which by now, is far from being fluent (I'd say funtional). But there was no pressing need to learn it, I mostly did so out of interest and a desire to escape from the 'one tongue only' prison.

At least attempting a second language is good in that helps out with teaching a lot. We can then put ourselves in the students' shoes as they attempt to learn a second or third language.

Steve

[nomadder]

Lots of interesting responses here.

[moonraven]

Just to add another twist to the thread, I think the low level of interest in learning other languages reflects the low level of interest in other people and cultures, and is an indication of why so many EFL teachers are not highly regarded in the countries that they "visit".

It's very egocentric to roam the globe in search of cheap beer and cheap thrills, and leads to being a parasite--one who takes advantage of the "created need" for English and who lives off the local economy without really giving anything back to the community.

I have one of those parasites sitting a few stations down from me in this Internet cafe....

[mesmerod]

is it common for people in the EFL business to not know their host country's language....or at least attempt to learn it?

[Roger]

Actually, quite a few anglophones speak - or know - a second or third lingo; one of my favourite writers was Anthony Burgess; this guy spiced up his novels by writing in a foreign-influenced English as the characters in his stories were apt to speak. He had no trouble making you believe you were hearing a German English speaker, or a Russian, Malaysian, Italian; Burgess mastered 6 languages. I once saw him on the French TV 5's programme "Litterature avec Bernard Pivot".

But the general mindset of anglophones is somewhat complacent. What might be annoying about this is that if a member of a different language community refused to make an effort at communicating with an English speaker they would be perceived as "arrogant" or "unfriendly". How many times have I read/herad how "arrogant" the French are... because their English is not up to an Englishman's expectations.
Then again, the English are a bit particular about their English and often take a highly pejorative view of non-British. Wasn't it them wh put this silly term of "native English speakers" in the world?
The French are far more accommodating; anyone who can communicate in French effectively can teach it; thus you will find far more people with a truly international background in French classrooms than in English ones.
This probably leads to some unwarranted English elitism. No French would say "how grateful I am to be born a French speaker... I can teach it in a hundred countries without having to study their language..."

And, if you see who enrols at an Alliance francaise centre, you will notice that people anywhere in the world want to learn French for different reasons than they would give you for studying English.

[stillnosheep]

[moonraven]

Clearly, being able to travel the world and make a living only based on being a Native English Speaker is a very privileged position--it certainly beats selling shoes in a strip mall in one's home country in the style of who was that guy--Al Bundy! The problem is that the Bundys of this world are not very desirable as teachers, yet they think that in whatever corner of the world (mostly Third) they find themselves, the people who live there should be rolling out the red carpet for them.

Learn the language----naaw.

[nomadder]

[Stephen Jones]

[quote]No French would say "how grateful I am to be born a French speaker... I can teach it in a hundred countries without having to study their language..." [/quote]

The French have no desire to teach in a hundred countries. They are only interested in teaching in those where the cooking is up to par.

It is well known that the first and last question a Brit asks about a foreign country is "Is the beer cheap?", whilst for a Frenchman it is "C'est bien la bouffe?"

[moonraven]

Nomadder,

Since the grammar of any language sets the infrastructure of the way its speakers see the world and react to it, mastering other languages goes way beyond broadening one's mind and opening up other cultures. It is tantamount to giving yourself more lives.

[Roger]

[quote="stillnosheep"]

[denise]

Just to clarify--

Roger, although my name appeared in your post, the words quoted are not mine.

d

[The G-stringed Avenger]

I'm fluent in Japanese - not perfect, but I can have a deep conversation and express myself, although my listening is rather weak. It is surprising to many people I meet that I, a native English speaker, can ACTUALLY SPEAK ANOTHER LANGUAGE!!!!!

In any case, I did find it a little difficult to practice at times as many Japanese people I met only wanted to speak English with me. A few were downright rude and would bark "Speak English!" like I was just some trained English animal set to respond to their demands. A few got pissed off and would abruptly terminate the conversation by walking away if I spoke Japanese. I even had a man tell me "I can't understand your Japanese - speak English." Too bad his non-English-speaking friends could understand me perfectly!
It's such an alien culture.... so hard to relate to people comfortably. I didn't like it, so I left.

[stillnosheep]

[stillnosheep]