i forget where or with whom i was, but sometime last summer, i was sitting with two people. one asked me why i was going to germany and i said "because i've always wanted to" or something like that and the other said, "if i were going to study another language, i would study one that is spoken by lots of people - more than just people in one country." i had no argument and i don't know if the second person realized what a gauche thing he said. but i didn't really care (i was incredibly passive last summer). today someone gave me my argument. german is one of the most specific languages and is studied by people who want to better understand philosophy and law. so there second person whoever you are! SMART people study german. and maybe my intention wasn't consciously to learn more about philosophy and law, you can bet that now, if i want to, i will be able to. so ha!
and here is what wiki has to say about it. as my professor said today "english is very easy - that is why the whole world speaks it. german is very specific for specific reasons." and i am content.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
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eh, i dunno about "gauche."
ReplyDeleteobviously they were referring to general usefulness versus specific usefulness. for instance, knowing spanish can sometimes be good for a 10% pay differential in most medical/social service positions.. german, only in specific situations.
sorry replace "obviously" with "maybe" ... i don't like my tone there.
ReplyDeleteyeah, i think i didn't fully express how shocked me and person 1 were with the tone of person 2. i really can't remember who this was. but person 2 was kind of saying it in a derogatory, undermining way. not really "oh, i think if i were to study another language, i would study spanish" more with the undertone, "why would anyone do that?" but maybe i took it the wrong way... qui sait?
ReplyDeletei hear you. that def could sound ignorant.
ReplyDelete