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26 Feb 2007 Mon 05:53 pm |
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Quoting catwoman:
Sophie, I'm not talking about laziness per se, but about laziness in the deeper sense of it. European/Asian/African kids learn English and other foreign languages because it's good if not necessary for them to do so and not out of love for learning. For example why is it that kids these days learn English, Spanish, German... and not Turkish, Swahili or even Russian... etc? This learning is done with the goal of benefiting from it by getting better jobs and more money in the future. And the reality is that knowing at least English is a must these days, I'm sure many people would love not to have to learn it. Of course there are exceptions to this, however, they don't change the overall situation.
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I understood very well what you were saying. I was pointing out though, that you can never call someone lazy, with the deeper or the shallow sense of it, when he starts learning 2 foreign languages, at the age of 8 and 10. And of course, no one will start with Swahili, simply because most people's first aim is to FIRST take care of their business career. It's normal to start with the languages that will help you achieve your professional goals. And then, if you have time and courage, to continue with other ones.
Learning a language just for pleasure, is a luxury that usually adults with a secure job and a settled life can have. I was studying Turkish in my spare time, because I had a job waiting for me every morning and no professional anxieties. So instead of reading magazines, I tried to read something useful. But if anyone would try to convince me to study them 15 years ago, when I was trying to find time to catch my breath, between my studies, my other activities, etc, i d ask them to drop dead!!! 
The english and the american kids are just luckier. Because they already know the language which is needed about almost anything. I don't think that they are lazy. They just don't NEED to learn another language to survive professionaly.
(btw, Turkish was the language which was proposed as a compulsory foreign language for the kids in the 5th grade. But it was rejected, thanks to some politicians' nationalism and narrow mindness)
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